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The Haft Keshvar (the seven Countries) is the work Fakhri Herawi, the famous writer poet of the court of Iran and India in the 10th century AH. This research, with a structural approach, has examined the introduction of this work, which is the special and artistic part of it. The questions emphasized in this research are about identifying the structure of the Haft Keshvar's introduction, showing the pattern of the plot of structure of the introduction, and expressing the connection between the introduction and the main content. In addition to the recognition of the totality of the literary work, the purpose of such studies is to make possible the comparison of the structural approach of the work with pre- and post-texts. This adds to the systematic collection of studies on Persian literature. This study uses the structuralism method, which emphasizes the structure of the work, and attempts to find a link between the form and the meaning using the ideas of scholars such as Propp in classifying the personality of the story, and Saussure and Strauss in the discourse and Tzvetan Todorov in episodic anecdotes, to explain the distinct levels of the narration of the introduction of the Haft Keshvar (Seven Countries). Introduction Structuralism is one of the new methods for the analysis and explanation of the text. By looking at the literary works and examining the verses and sentences, we find that the scholars had a meticulous view in their analysis. The systematic, structuralist view at literary works was emerged in the nineteenth century when Ferdinand de Saussure, after expressing the basics of linguistics, said that “Science is the study of systems of semantic signification and language is one of them” (Ahmadi, 2013, p. 12). In the examination of the structure of the article, we have outlined the structural approach in detail. This paper analyzes the introduction of the ‘Haft Keshvar’ of Fakhri Heravi, a prolific writer and poet of the Safavid court, with a structuralist point of view. The purpose of this research is first to show his creativity in applying three different structures (symbol, contrasting dialogue, and ‘story-within-story narration’) in the 100-page introduction of the book which is unique in his earlier works. Secondly, structural analysis can be effective in conveying the message more quickly to the reader, understanding the meaning of the literary work, especially in works with numerous characters and story- within-story narration technique. Thirdly, identifying the structure of a literary work can be a gateway to understand the style of the work. As Shafiei Kadkani expresses “by relying on its consonants, vowels, and the arrangement of the phonemes, each word is a structure at the service of the whole verse, which is a broader structure. The whole verse is a structure serving a larger structure that forms the ‘sonnet’, or ‘Qasida’, or ‘Manzoomeh’, so, the style is discovered. (See: Shafiei Kodkani, 2009, p. 8). Material & Methods The present study employs Structuralism as a theory that makes scientific study possible by revealing the intrinsic rules of the texts. Using the theories of thinkers such as Propp in classifying the characters of the story, and utilizing contrasting discourse and story-within-story anecdotes which are structuralist themes, the whole introduction of the ‘Haft Keshvar’ are categorized at three levels of symbolic, confrontational dialogue, and episodic stories. After defining the plot, using the main and secondary library resources, separating the sections, and drawing up the table of story-within-story anecdotes by listing the name and arrangement of the stories, the pattern of their plot has been identified. In the final section, by analyzing the main themes of the story, and Ibn Torab's journey to the Seven Stars, his goal of the journey to the Seven Places is described. Discussion of Results & Conclusions Haft Keshvar- written by Mohammed bin Amiri Heravi- is a work of the 10th century AH. This book has a creative introduction, which has paved the way for a function of fifty-five percent of various characters and angle-of-view metamorphoses. This study has attempted to reveal the distinct structure of this introduction with a structuralist approach. The introduction is presented in three parts; the first part has a symbolic text in which the author presents the story of creation in different names. The story is very similar to the Quranic story, except that Ibn Torab and his father, Khwaja Ragham, are not sinners. In the second part, Ibn Torab and Khwaja Ragham use a contracting discourse to convince one another, and this is one of the methods of the structuralism to reach the concept of theme. This section reveals Ibn Torab's main reason for traveling to the Seven Stars and Khwaja Ragham’s intention to prevent this journey. The third section contains story-within-story anecdotes; such stories have a long history in Persian literature. In this section we come across numerous characters and personalities. In terms of narrative, each narrative is followed by a new narrator who is a new character. In terms of the transformation of the angle of view, it is an artistic part worth studying. In terms of the structure of the plot, by trying to show the pattern of the plot in each section, we have tried to prove that the use of linear narration and narration of events based on cause-and-effect relation to represent a logical, coherent, and solid plot. Finally, it should be said that the introductory part of the story is Ibn Torab’s journey to perfection, who ultimately attains self-cultivation and spiritual virtue as he ascends the Seven Stars. Comparing this work with the lyric and educational works of art before and after can produce a valuable content. For example, comparing the different tribes in the Haft Keshvar with Mersad el-Ebad would be useful in identifying crafts and industries. Moreover, although this work is in prose, it has about five hundred and seventy verses of poem which is itself a valuable treasure of a capable writer. This section is definitely worth a separate review, adaptation, and further study. |
