Analysis of Meta-textual and Intra-textual Factors on Literary Taste in Chahar Maghale and Labab al-Bab

• Published in: Funūn-i adabī Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 1 - 20
• Main Authors: Zohre Mohammadi, Hosein Ghorban Poor Arani, Reza Ruhani
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Persian
• Published: University of Isfahan 01-12-2022
• Subjects: aesthetics; audience's literary taste; chahar maghale; labab al-bab; sociology of literary taste
• ISSN: 2008-8027; 2322-3448
• DOI: 10.22108/liar.2023.135444.2194

The standards and the taste for art are being constantly changed and transformed. Anthologies, as a summary of the audience's views and taste, are a mirror and a reflection of the evolution of literary taste standards in any era. The process of formation and the direction and evolution of literary taste in each period can be well understood by analyzing works in different periods. In the present study, the literary taste was determined by examining Chahar Maghale and Lababal-Bab from a sociological point of view. The foundation, social context, and criteria for selection are important factors in directing the literary taste of the time from the perspective of the authors of these two anthologies. The mutual benefit of the masters of power and masters of art in immortalizing and preserving each other's names, the artist’s colleagues, personal acquaintance of young artists with famous writers and artists, and literary criticism are considered to be the most important literary metatextual features that shape artistic tastes from the point of view of the authors of these two anthologies. The balance and comparison of poets, observance of verbal and semantic proportions, and hyperbole are among the outstanding intratextual features of the criticism of taste in the discussed anthologies. The social class of the artist, the glory of power, perfectionism, and artifice, the metatextual value-creating criteria, improvisation and conciseness, and the use of literary devices are all among the examples of intratextual beauty in the studied anthologies.IntroductionThe philosophy of aesthetics, i.e., the concept of beauty and conversations about beauty, exists among the opinions of philosophers and ancient thinkers, but the limits of the definition of beauty are not clear. Some historians and philosophers believed that the concept of beauty, like other generic concepts (nature, truth), is a vague and absurd mental generalization (Winer, 2008, p. 1507). There is various evidence of the transformation of examples of beauty in all branches of art, especially literature, over time. One of the main reasons for the changes in examples of beauty is that the aesthetic taste and the taste of the times are subject to change both among speakers and creators of works and among their audience, and taste is often considered the criterion for measuring the beauty of literary works. The anthologies in the Persian language are among the manifestations of the criteria of artistic virtuosity and taste in each period.By using the concepts of sociology of literary taste as an interdisciplinary branch between sociology and literature, it is possible to give an answer to why and how the audience's literary taste evolved, as the authors of anthologies were in fact serious readers of Persian poetry who have lived in the context of literary trends (Fotouhi, 2017, p. 27). The chosen anthologies of this research are Chahar Maghale by Nizami and Lababal-Bab by Aufi. In this research, we aimed to investigate the evolution of the criteria of aesthetic taste and the artistic taste of the time from the point of view of the serious audience of poetic literature, i.e. anthology writers, by reflecting on and examining the two anthologies, Chahar Maghale by Nizami and Lababal-Bab by Aufi. Materials and Methods The study used the sociological concepts of literary taste from Shocking's point of view and identified the metatextual and intratextual characteristics of literary taste and criteria and metatextual value-creating examples based on the two works (i.e. Chahar Maghale and Lababal-Bab). In this descriptive-analytical research, the bibliographic research method has been used to collect the data. At first, anthologies, books, and related articles were studied, and the desired data were collected in the field of taste. Then, the results were presented analytically. Research FindingsThe study of Chahar Maghale and Lababal-Bab was conducted from the point of view of the sociology of literary taste from two aspects of characteristics and criteria. In the metatextual features, the foundation and social context, the social class of the artist and its development, and the mutual benefit of the masters of power and art to immortalize and preserve each other's names are among the most important social metatextual features and criteria for selection. It was shown that the artist’s colleagues, personal acquaintance of young artists with writers and famous artists, and literary criticism are considered to be the most important literary metatextual features that shape artistic tastes from the point of view of the authors of these two anthologies. Also, balance and comparison of poets, observance of verbal and semantic proportions, and hyperbole are among the obvious intratextual features of the criticism of taste in the discussed anthologies. In the section on value-creating criteria, sociological value-creating criteria such as the social class of the poet, the glory of power, the scientific and artistic virtues of the introduced poet, reception and fame, the aesthetic criteria of Arabic eloquence, and skill in both prose and verse are among the most important metatextual criteria. Improvisation, conciseness, and literary devices are among the most important examples of intratextual beauty from the perspectives of these two anthology writers. Discussion of Results and ConclusionsFrom the sociological point of view, the literary taste, the foundation, social context, and means of selection are important factors to determine the taste of the times in Chahar Maghale and Lababal-Bab. The mutual benefit of the masters of power and art for the immortality and preservation of each other's names, artist’s colleagues, personal acquaintance of young artists with writers and famous artists, and literary criticism are considered to be the most important aspects of the spirit of the time that determine the taste of the time. Observance of verbal and semantic proportions, hyperbole, and balance are considered to be among the main intratextual features of the criticism of taste in the discussed anthologies.The social class of the poet, the glory of power, the comprehensiveness of the poet, and finally, perfectionism and artistry, are metatextual value-creating criteria in both anthologies. Improvisation, conciseness, and the use of literary devices, whose reason is to arouse a sense of wonder in the audience, are all among the examples of intratextual beauty in the discussed anthologies. Improvisation and conciseness, results of the social function of poetry, which has treated beauty as usefulness, and the literary devices whose existential philosophy is to arouse a sense of wonder in the audience, have made beauty a source of wonder and pleasure in the eyes of these two anthology writers.