تاریخ ادبیات (May 2013)
Persian Language and Literature in Contemporary Arab Scholarship
Abstract
PERSIAN LANGUAGE and LITERATURE as the second language of ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION and one of the most influential languages in Arabic has always been at the center of the attention of Arab society in general and Arab scholars in particular. Renewed familiarity of the Arab world with PERSIAN LANGUAGE and LITERATURE traces back to late 19th and the beginning of 20th centuries. Arab researchers and scholars have attempted to introduce ARAB LANGUAGE and LITERATURE into their world, and each has expressed his/her own view about the importance and position of the language. The outlook of Arab writers about PERSIAN LANGUAGE is an interesting point which the present study has attempted to look at by historical and descriptive methods, and taking into account the Arab writers’ attitudes in the recent decades. The study shows that although the study of PERSIAN LANGUAGE does not have a long history in the Arab world, Arab scholars have gained the knowledge of its importance and the necessity of learning it. They believe that the learning of Persian is needed for the sake of studies on ARAB LANGUAGE and ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION and culture. In the same vein they suppose that PERSIAN LANGUAGE has a specific literary semantic structure which makes it close to world LITERATURE
