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Iran as the Other: A Different Reading of Nizami’s Poem Khosrow and Shirin in Samad Vurgun’s Play Farhad and Shirin
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Saeed Karimi Qarebaba *   |
| Payam-e Noor University , karimisaeed58@pnu.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (3710 Views) |
In his play, Farhad and Shirin, the Azerbaijani poet and writer, Samad Vurgun recounted the poem of Khosrow and Shirin contrary to Nizami Ganjavi’s intentions and tried to create a “Self vs. The Other” divide. Iranians were portrayed as a threatening enemy of the lands beyond Aras and an intractable enmity between the two sides was imagined. In agreement with the communist politicians, Vurgun sought to prepare an independent identity for the newly established Republic of Azerbaijan in a way that did not overlap with Iranian and Ottoman cultural commonalities. The current research, based on a descriptive-analytical method, tries to answer the question of how Vurgun described the self and the other and what strategies he employed to determine and embody the cultural identity of the Caucasus. The author of the play portrayed the Iranians as people with negative characteristics such as raping, kidnapping, parent-killing, lying, etc. and instead, attributed all the positive qualities to the people of Barda District. On the other hand, introducing Shirin and Farhad as lovers from Azerbaijan and creating a character named Azarbaba were part of Vurgun’s strategies to promote the new identity of the Caucasus.
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| Keywords: Farhad and Shirin, Nizami, Vurgun, The Other, Iranism, Azerbaijan’s new identity |
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Full-Text [PDF 261 kb]
(6 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
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