History-Based Imagination Replacing Geography-Based Imagination: A Hallmark of ʿAjāʾib-nāma texts Periods

Document Type : Research article

Author

PhD in Persian Language and Literature from Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

In this article, it will be demonstrated how the element of "place," highlighted through its emphasis on geography in early-period ʿAjāʾib-nāma texts, embodies earthly, non-imaginative, and rational thought. In later periods, this element yields to "time" through a focus on "history," departing from rationality and objectivity and merging with imagination.  It seems that ʿAjāʾib-nāma texts served as a platform for a kind of "resistance" against the mainstream scientific discourse. Employing Foucault's genealogical method, this study aims to identify the points of rupture in the imagination of ʿAjāʾib-nāma writers. In the first period, "geography" served as the vehicle of imagination and the connecting link to reality. In the second period, recourse to "narrative" replaces geography. The third period, in which imagination is based on "historical" events, we witness the proliferation of mythical creatures and their significant growth. Even historical figures have not been spared from the imagination of ʿAjāʾib-nāma authors. Based on this, three distinct periods of ʿAjāʾib-nāma texts are identified.

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Main Subjects

Persian Language and Literature
Volume 78, Issue 251
July 2025
Pages 52-71

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History

  • Receive Date: 19 October 2024
  • Revise Date: 23 May 2025
  • Accept Date: 10 July 2025

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