ادبیات تطبیقی (Aug 2023)
Reflection of Linguistic Elements of Popular Culture of Iran and Pakistan in the Poetry of Simin Behbahani and Parveen Shakir
Abstract
. Introduction One of the ways to enrich the content of poetry is to use the cultural supports that have existed in Persian poetry for a long time. The range of cultural supports used in Persian poetry is very wide and includes references to the Qur'an and Hadith and use of various scientific terms. Based on this and considering the use of these cultural supports in poetry, which are often used in the form of innovative spiritual arrays, especially allusions, it can be said that they have always been one of the sources of nutrition for poetry and literature.Since Persian and Urdu poetry has always had a close connection with popular culture from ancient times to modern times, there are many evidences of referring to the elements of popular culture, especially its linguistic elements.According to the above explanation, this research using the descriptive-analytical method has tried to compare and analyze the role and function of the most important linguistic elements of culture and popular literature in the poetry of Simin Behbahani and Parveen Shakir with the approach of comparative literature.2.MethodologyThis article is a theoretical research that, with the approach of comparative literature, has tried to analyze and compare the reflection of the linguistic elements of popular culture in the poetry of two contemporary Persian and Urdu poets (Simin Behbahani and Parveen Shaker). 3.DiscussionPoets use cultural supports and lived or learned experiences to strengthen the content of their poems. Undoubtedly, popular culture and literature is one of the most widely used spiritual fountains of official literature. Customs, traditions, beliefs, parables and allusions, stories and legends, etc., are elements of popular culture that can be divided into two parts, linguistic and non-linguistic. Linguistic elements; It includes interpretations, idioms, allusions, insults, proverbs and proverbs, stories and legends and everything that is created with the tool of language. Simin Behbahani and Parveen Shakir are among the well-known female poets in contemporary Persian and Urdu literature who have been influenced by the foundations and elements of folk culture and literature in their poems and have reflected them artistically in their poetry.culture in dictionaries means "a collection of customs and traditions." The collection of sciences, knowledge and arts of a nation". (Moin, 1384: 1176) and also "a complex general phenomenon of manners, customs, thought, art and way of life that is formed during the historical experience of peoples and can be transferred to the next generations" (Anvari, 1381 : 5346) came and said in a clearer definition: "Culture... is the collection of spiritual heritage of a people, whether it is the product of their intellect and understanding or the offspring of their taste and emotion." (Mahjub, 2016: 36)In a more comprehensive definition, culture is referred to "all the material and spiritual institutions in which a human being is born, raised and has a personality." (Velayati, 2010: 19) From the point of view of some researchers, culture is divided into two main parts: material and immaterial (spiritual), and from another point of view, some researchers have divided culture into the official culture and popular culture. material culture, tangible cultural elements; Such as architecture, it includes clothes, tools, etc., and non-material or spiritual culture includes the intangible parts of culture; It refers to beliefs and beliefs, proverbs and allusions, stories and legends, etc. (Chehreghani, 2015 A: 93) As can be seen, the linguistic elements of culture are placed under spiritual culture. The meaning of official culture is a set of cultural elements that are not only reserved for the masses and are also accepted among the elites. From another point of view, Culture can be considered to mean art or at least a source and watering hole for art, because noble, official and elitist art can be more enriched by hanging on the sources of popular culture. (Hall, 2013: 696)In all societies, language is considered the main axis of culture, and since literature is also an application of language, popular culture, which is transmitted orally from one generation to another in different societies, has an inseparable connection with popular literature. (Chehreghani, 2015 B: 3) One of the valid divisions for the constituent elements of popular culture, along with material and spiritual elements or healthy and unhealthy elements, is their division into linguistic and non-linguistic elements. The meaning of linguistic elements is that part of cultural elements that is created on the basis or with the tools of language and includes expressions, terms, allusions, songs and lullabies, work songs, parables and proverbs, stories and legends, etc. and researchers sometimes refer to it as oral literature. (Mirsadeghi, 1998: 12) According to what was said, popular literature is considered a sub-branch of popular culture. Comparative literature, which continued and followed the slogan of "world literature" of the romantics in Europe and started by collecting and comparing the stories and legends of the nations of Asia and the Middle East, "speaks of the research on the relations between the literature of the nations and the different peoples of the world." (ZarrinKub, 1982: 125) The method of comparative literature in the French school is "examining the historical relations of national literature with the literature of other nations written in a language other than the language of that country". (Ghunaymi Hilal, 2014: 7) Research in comparative literature introduces us to other nations and their similarities and differences with each other and their literary or cultural influences. Various topics are included under comparative literature, one of which is folk culture and literature. The importance of this approach lies in the fact that it helps to know the true mood, habits and way of thinking and living of the people of a region and to get to know more about the real face of a nation. For this purpose and to know more precisely the cultural similarities and differences between the nations of Iran and Pakistan, this research has investigated the issue of using language elements of culture and folk literature in the poetry of Simin Behbahani and Parveen Shakir. 3.ConclusionThe research findings show that the two mentioned poets have used the linguistic elements of popular culture in a wide way, considering their gender and female perspective, which is due to the affinities and historical, religious, cultural, etc. links between the two Iranian societies. And Pakistani and the two languages Persian and Urdu, regardless of the existing differences, have many similarities.As seen, Simin Behbahani, a contemporary Iranian poet, and Parveen Shakir, a contemporary Pakistani poet, have benefited from the linguistic elements of popular culture, both in the production and creation of the theme, and in strengthening the meaning and enriching the content of the poem, and in the direction of inducing better meaning and Its greater impact. Among the linguistic elements of popular culture reflected in the poetry of two Urdu and Persian poets, one can find many common elements including words, interpretations, idioms, ironies, proverbs, common stories, legends, etc. Poets have adapted the popular culture of their people and used it correctly in their artistic creations. What attracts the most attention in this matter is the great verbal and semantic similarity between the proverbs and allusions of the two nations, which is due to the ancient connection of the Urdu language and literature with Persian language and literature, and more importantly, the historical influence of Persian culture and literature in the Indian subcontinent. Especially Pakistan tells that in addition to many similarities in meaning and theme, sometimes the words of Urdu proverbs are very similar to the Persian equivalent and sometimes the same; Like the proverb " If the world is washed away, he is still asleep" in Urdu language, only the word "water" has been changed to "flood"; However, among the types of linguistic elements of popular culture used in the poetry of the two selected poets, the reference to legendary stories is less frequent.In addition to the mentioned commonalities and similarities, differences can also be identified in the use of linguistic elements of popular culture in the poetry of the two poets; Including all kinds of explicit insults and sarcasm and children's game songs; Such as Jom Jomak, Atal Matal Tutule, Tab Tab Hambazi, etc., which are common in the Persian-speaking community of Iran, are abundantly seen in Behbahani's poetry. Still, this type of linguistic element does not exist in Parvin Shakir's poetry. In addition to that, the lullaby is also a subject of which there is an example in Behbahani's poem; But in Shakir's poetry, although a poet has the experience of motherhood, it is not seen. Since Parvin Shakir is fully familiar with contemporary Persian poetry and is known as the only translator of Forough Farrokhzad's poetry in the Urdu language, and due to the feminine perspective that dominates the poetry of the two selected poets and their belonging to the space of neo-classical poetry (in Persian language and Urdu) it is expected that Shakir was influenced by Simin Behbahani's poetry; However, based on the findings of this research, apart from the existence of some similarities between the elements of general culture used in the poetry of both poets, the obvious influence of this Urdu language poet on the poetry of Simin Behbahani cannot be proven
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