Literary Criticism
Mina Mohammadi Saremi; Hosein Imanian; Abbas Eghbali
Abstract
"The Anxiety of Influence" is a theory proposed by Harold Bloom that discusses the effectiveness of poets. It is based on intertextuality and focuses on the relationship between contemporary poets and the past, as well as their fear of their own effectiveness. The theory suggests that poets modify their ...
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"The Anxiety of Influence" is a theory proposed by Harold Bloom that discusses the effectiveness of poets. It is based on intertextuality and focuses on the relationship between contemporary poets and the past, as well as their fear of their own effectiveness. The theory suggests that poets modify their speech in order to conceal their effectiveness and present themselves as creative individuals. This concern or fear of effectiveness is evident in many poems and reports from the third and fourth centuries of Arabic literature. This essay takes a comparative-analytical approach to examine the mindset of these composers by analyzing their poetic compositions, historical-literary reports, and the opinions of orators from that time period. It aims to explore their worries and concerns regarding topics such as innovation and imitation. Additionally, using Bloom's theory as a guide, it examines the strategies employed by Abou Al-Tayeb Motanabbi to present his historical statements in a new light. The research demonstrates that these composers' confrontations with the limited opinions of their predecessors and contemporaries are rooted in psychological impulses and mental worries, rather than personal competition or militancy. Furthermore, the rhetorical approaches used during that time period added to the psychological pressure they experienced. Therefore, further research is necessary. The composers mock others while boasting about their artistic talent, which reveals their anxiety and worry about efficacy. They employ techniques such as brevity, exaggerated imagery, reversing repetitive concepts, using distant metaphors, and implicit or explicit analogies instead of weak examples to make repetitive forms and objects feel fresh and establish themselves as innovative poets.
Hossein Imanian
Abstract
Abu Mansoor Thaalabi refers to three royal courts of his era in his book “Yatimat Al-Dahr”: Harun-al-Rashid in Baghdad, Sayf-al-Dawla al-Hamadani in Aleppo, and Sahib-ibn Abbad in Rey. The first was a caliph, the second a king, and the third a vizier. The charisma and generosity of these three figures ...
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Abu Mansoor Thaalabi refers to three royal courts of his era in his book “Yatimat Al-Dahr”: Harun-al-Rashid in Baghdad, Sayf-al-Dawla al-Hamadani in Aleppo, and Sahib-ibn Abbad in Rey. The first was a caliph, the second a king, and the third a vizier. The charisma and generosity of these three figures attracted a huge number of scholars, poets, writers and artists, which led to cultural and scientific developments. There are several Islamic–Arabic folklore stories referring to the heroic, superhuman and mythical characteristics of these figures. In this article, after providing a short biography, we would look at the sources of the charisma recorded in history. Among the sources, we can mention religiosity, knowledge, political skills, intellectual and religious tolerance, bravery in the battle fields, and having a good sense of literature. In spite of some negative characteristics attributed to them, they could benefit from the duality as another source of their charisma to influence the scholars. In fact, they could make best use of the power sources they enjoyed.
Hossein Imanian
Abstract
Since the second century (lunar calendar) in Arabic literary criticism, the question of whether poetry should stay clear of philosophy, science, and thought or the poet can enjoy using them, has come to the fore. Naturally, before Muslims get familiar with Greek, Indian, and Persian-rooted knowledge, ...
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Since the second century (lunar calendar) in Arabic literary criticism, the question of whether poetry should stay clear of philosophy, science, and thought or the poet can enjoy using them, has come to the fore. Naturally, before Muslims get familiar with Greek, Indian, and Persian-rooted knowledge, philosophy, culture, and civilization (which were under the influence of such translations) there was no sign of such arguments. But the time when some of Abbasid poets longed to embellish their art with a tint of knowledge and thought, some conservative and trenchant Arabic-fervid critics rebuked the idea sharply. This skirmish turned into a bitter critical conflict when Abu Tammam employed the aforementioned method both in theory and practice. The altercation between these two groups has in fact been a conflict between the supporters of tradition and modernity in literature, art, and, of course, the society is Abbasid epoch. In Persian literature Khaghani’s poems are the most identical to Abu Tammam’s. Khaghani also believed that a poet should not talk in a way that be grasped easily and this is the audience who have to increase his knowledge in order to understand the poet’s tongue. The method these two poets adopted in Persian and Arabic literature came to be known as “Technical School”. Poet, in this method, expresses his lofty thoughts aesthetically. The present study investigates the unintelligible aspects of Khaghani’s and Abu Tammam’s poems. The hard-to-grasp aspect of these two poets’ poems has occasionally been a corollary of the style of these two formalist artists and at times a feature of using wonderful themes and philosophical and logical meanings as well as historical and mythical allusions
