Literary Arts (Sep 2018)
Maqameh and Picaresque: Is picaresque influenced by Maqameh?
Abstract
Centuries after Maqameh had come to the fore, stories by the name of ''Picaresque'' began to be written in Spanish literature which had numerous similarities with Maqameh. Picaresque can be regarded as the evolutional forms of romances with a different subject matter. Lazarillo de Tormes is the first picaresque story which has been written in 16th century in Spain. Narratives of picaresque have numerous similarities with present-day stories, so much so that, some designate Don Quixote de la Mancha- one of the latest picaresque- as the first novel. Since Spain was conquered by Umayyad dynasty, connections were formed between Arabs and Spanish which lead to scientific, artistic, and cultural exchanges and bilateral use of cultural resources. Since picaresque was formed in Spain and because of its similarities to Maqameh, the hypothesis comes to the fore that it originates from Maqameh. This has been referred to in some works which we have made mention of them in the literature. However, we oppose this hypothesis by showing their differences and foregrounds of Picaresque in Europe as well as its social-historical factors. In 4th Islamic centuries, a species of prose came to the fore in Arab literature which was called Maqamat. It rapidly gained prominence because Arabic prose in this era had been tended to decorum and artifice and the appearance of Picaresque paved the way for the pens who adored artifice. Mohammad Taghi Bahar believed that Maqameh was a translation of "Gath'' in Mazdayasna (Zoroastrianism) which has survived after Islam. These excerpts in Mazdayasna were melodious and its syllabic poems had symmetry, balance and interval silences; just how Maqamat seems to be (Bahar, 1349, 2nd v: 234). Picaresque was a story written by a picaro in which a satire of his era and the people is narrated (Sibre, 1389:4). This literary genre appeared in 16th century in Spain and spread to other European countries like France, Italy, Germany, and England. The myth of Hermes can be regarded as the prototype of picaro. According to Greek myths, he was the god of roads, commerce, fortune, sports, and rhetoric. Hermes used to deceive people and trickery was one of his features (Manser, 2009: 219). Picaresque can also be a mixture of "picaro", "picador", "Picards", and "picaroon". Maqamat in its theme is influenced by the social and cultural situation of its era. Beggary, deceit, and tongue are some common themes of Maqamat which is a mirror of the social and cultural situation of that time. Picaresque is in its turn a micro history conflated of literary and historical narratives which its roots should be sought in humanism (De Haan and Mierau, 2014: 1-2). Since picaresque has come to the fore because of a protest to the feudalism of Spain in 16th c and the quasi- religious reign of the era, has been labeled as humanistic works. Considering similarities of Maqameh and picaresque, the appearance of Maqameh six century before picaresque and in Spain, the hypothesis has taken some force because Arabs lived and ruled Spain in that period and the bilateral relationships of them cannot be neglected. Nonetheless, these similarities do not provide a solid ground for the hypothesis because these similarities are there in postmodernism, symbolism and Persian classic literature. In addition to differences between the two which outnumbers their similarities, the second reason to reject the hypothesis is the fact that picaresque came into the fore influenced by a foreground of European story writing, holy Books, romance, Aesop's fables, The Fabliau, joke books, novella, and etc. the third reason is the social-cultural condition of Spain in 16th centuries and the influence of the life of picaro, Picards, picaroon; just as the influence of the rhythmic style of Quran and traditions of Abu-Zayd Sorooji, Abbas doos, Tarrar Basrah is evident. Furthermore, the fact is that picaresque was not directly influenced by Maqameh because of the three explicit intertextual relationships (quotations, plagiarism, and implicit intertextuality), none can be trace in picaresque from Maqameh. Picaresque should be considered as the product of Spanish social condition of that period of time, not an imitated one nor influenced by eastern prose. This story genre, indeed, was taken from the lives of the poor and picaro of that era of Spain which criticized feudalism, quasi-religious reign, and churches. It is a satire on the miserable state of the poor and their hopeless struggle for bread. At best, Maqameh can be considered as one of the foregrounds of picaresque.
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