Notes on the Literary Unity of the Shāhnāmeh

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

california

10.22099/jba.2021.39733.3970

Abstract

Notes on the Literary Unity of the Shāhnāmeh

Abstract
One of the most important characteristics of fine poets, especially those who compose narrative poetry, is their ability to create vivid images. When these vivid images are presented in a well-integrated narrative context in which every part of the narrative is logically connected to its other parts, the narrative will have greater impact upon its readers. The present essay concerns the unity of the Shāhnāmeh’s narrative. Naturally, there may be small narrative inconsistencies in any literary work of the Shāhnāmeh’s size. But on the whole, the logical consistency and narrative logic of the poem, both in its individual scenes as well as in the epic as a whole, are quite striking. We have presented an example of the book’s narrative unity in the scenes of one of its episodes to show how Ferdowsi carefully maintains the consistency of his images in the episode. We then present evidence from the text of the story of Zāl and Rūdābeh to show how he logically weaves this story into the general narrative of his poem in order to lay bare the poem’s overall narrative consistency and logic.
Keywords: Shāhnameh, coherency of narrative, narrative logic, Zāl and Rudābeh.

Keywords

Journal of Poetry Studies (boostan Adab)

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 May 2021

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