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Sociological criticism is one of the modern and efficient methods of the study of literary texts, and today it has a wide application in the analysis of modern literary geners, especially the contemporary Persian novel.                                 This article aims at the analysis and appreciation of the contemporary Persian novel and explores the historical, political, and sociological structure of the Iranian society reflected in some of these novels. The findings of this research show that:

1.Novel is the most complete genre that might respond positively to   modern sociological studies

2.The Persian novel can explain the structures of the Iranian society very well.

3.The more distance we take from the simple structure of the Iranian society in the constitutional age (i.e. , early nineteenth century), the age of the emergence of the first Persian novels, and move towards the more complicated and intricate contemporary society ,the structure of the Persian  novel becomes more complicated and the social themes become more varied and more complex.

4.The themes and subjects treated by the writers of the Persian novels shift from broad generalizations to specific details. This point, on one hand, shows the individualization of the Iranian contemporary man, who has a proper in the modern novel ,and the change of the structures of the society from the ancient simple ,primitive and heroic state to complicated and modern structures  on the other.

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The following issues will be explored in this article:

Mohammad Taghi Bahar's attitude toward the important international developments including the first and second world war and the consequences of the 2 wars; the situations of Iran and some Asian and European governments in the 2 wars. Given the enormous effect of political pacts and agreements between Iran and other government on the cultural, social and political affairs of our country, the Bahar's reaction to these pacts and the political and military interference of foreign countries especially Russia, England and US are worth considering within a cultural and historical framework.

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Communication is one of the main functions of language. Linguistic communication usually combines with other modes of interaction such as nonverbal communication. People’s nonverbal behaviors display their styles and personality characteristics. Therefore, the fictionists and historians tend to reflect the quality and quantity of the character’s nonverbal relationship in their narration. The present study examines the adventure of Hanging of the Hasanak Minister in Tarikh-e Beyhaqi in order to show how Beyhaqi succeeds to imagine, objectify and portray the events of Qaznavi's periods and how it could improve the dramatic capacity of historical text with accuracy in nonverbal communication using a descriptive-analytical method and an interdisciplinary approach. This study displays that Beyhaqi often uses nonverbal communication in order to complete the verbal communication; but in many cases, they are replaced by verbal behavior or control the verbal behaviors.

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Mantiqu't-Tair, a description of human love for self-scrutiny and meeting with God, is the most significant mystical work of Attar in the form of allegory of birds in search of Simurgh or phoenix. The contradictory presence of the author as a mystic and a historian at the beginning of the book is astonishing. Although the introduction is short and distinct from the mystical text, it is of great importance owing to the interaction of mysticism and history. The historian tries to discover the truth based on the valid documentations and through a retrospective look into the past and carefully analyzing the accuracy of historical quotes and reviews whereas the mystic avoids politics and analysis. In general, history is independent of mysticism but it is the best support for the mystic. Attar is a creative mystic in the sense of innovating mystical symbols and sometimes creating historical characters out of mystical symbols, while he is oblivious to the judgment of history. Symbolizing the historical figures and disregarding the historical documentations, in addition to invalidating his judgment of the individuals, have other outcomes, including a crisis of reasoning and a rejection of mystical principles that Attar himself adheres to. This study is conducted to prove this claim in the introduction of Mantiqu't-Tair.

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At some historical points, all classes and professions of a society, despite all the differences and disagreements, flow into one single stream to reach a higher goal. Iranians have had this historical experience many times throughout history: during the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911), and also in the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In the Constitutional Revolution, all classes and professions of the society sought a higher goal that was the eradication of despotism and the establishment of the reign of law. In this Revolution, Persian literature, including poetry and prose, was at the service of the Revolution and satire became the revolutionaries’ main media. Literature of this era became so thoroughly mixed with politics that we can consider the great literati of this period as the great makers of the history of Iran. In this article, we have tried to explore and prove their importance.

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Firdowsi's Shahnameh, the poetic mythological epic of Iran, is created on the base of opposite forces of the world, namely Iran and Aniran and the battles of their people, because the design of the mythological history of Iran is also basically created on the intercourse of opposites .One of the most comprehensive philosophical views on history is  Friedrich Hegel's attitude. In this view, the nature and purpose of history is the same as nature of the human, and the nature of the human is the attainment of consciousness and freedom. This freedom can only be realized gradually and dialectically; hence, in the Hegelian philosophy the war is a way to dialectical furtherance of history and the inception of the struggle between human beings, as gods and servants, has been introduced as the basis for achieving self-consciousness. The battle between human beings in Firdowsi's Shahnameh resembles the dialectical relation of "Gods and Servants" in Hegel's philosophy. In the mythological part of Shahnameh, the achievement of self-consciousness is only through the battle of the two sides of the opposition, as gods and servants in the battles between Jamshid and Zahak, Zahak and Kaveh (and then Fereydoun), the sons of Fereydoun, and the subsequent martyrdom of Iraj and his reprisal by Manuchehr. This essay, with an analytical-descriptive approach, will analyze the philosophy of the history of Firdowsi's Shahnameh, emphasizing  the relation between "gods and servants", and concludes that in this work all conflicts will achieve a resolution that can be identified as the moments of Hegelian dialectic, and in fact, the path to self-awareness and freedom, and this is the same as the possibility of reading  philosophy of mythical history of Iran in Firdowsi's Shahnameh based on Hegelian philosophy of history.
 

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The two ancient civilizations of Iran and India, due to their long-standing cultural, political and economic relations, have had a relative cognition of each other's identity, which has, over time, become more logical, complete, and at times symbolic. Undoubtedly, in order to understand the history of Iran and India in ancient times and how these two nations interacted, we must inevitably find the historical image of India in Iranian culture. The study of myth, epic literature and versifications helps us to reach historical realities. Shahnameh can represent Iranian and Indian history and culture. In this research, we seek to answer the main question by using descriptive-analytical method and library resources. To a large extent, Firdowsi has remained faithful to historical sources and Pahlavi texts in Shahnameh. The text shows that Firdowsi has followed the sources that have been used and there is no significant difference between them especially those of the Sassanid era, such as Karnameh Ardeshir Babakan, A Relic from Zariran and Kodaynamak and Shahnameh. 
 

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If we admit that culture is a kind of text, we must inevitably accept that “The History of Jahāngushā” is a text that is the point of contact of different ideologies, each of which forms a part of Iranian identity and culture. Contrary to formalist approaches, an attempt has been made here to revisit the text based on those approaches of literary criticism that read the text in a dialectical and interactive connection with the material contexts of its production. Therefore, first, the ideologies in the text are introduced and analyzed, and after determining their role in shaping the ideological system of the History of Jahāngushā, their discourse contradictions are revealed, and finally, the impact of these ideologies on the text is discussed. Various factors such as historical context, social, cultural, and ideological institutions have been influential in the composition of this text and its linguistic form. It seems that more than the linguistic and expressive complexities, it is the discoursal, ideological, and cultural contradictions that have caused confusion and complexity of the text. Analyzing and retrieving the ideological currents of the text not only explains the reasons for its different readings but also helps the reader to reach a new and different judgment of the literary, historical, and cultural aspects of the text.

 

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