This study offers a dual aspect bridging Western and Eastern literary traditions, specifically the tragic-heroic literature of the British Renaissance and the prevailing Iranian tradition. This study demonstrates that the concept of the hero in both Western and Eastern traditions is an evolving one. Primarily, this work treats the Iranian heroic tradition. The several fantastic heroes selected for analysis have since been glorified in prayers, epics, novels, and in a tradition of sacred dramas, so much so as to appear almost legendary and mythological today. This paper suggests that these heroes developed in direct response to the most dire of human suffering, and miseries. This gradual development of the concept provides one kind of insight into the changing subtleties of mind and world view of each generation as traced through the three principal periods of Iran's literary tradition. The Pre-Islamic period includes an analysis of the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, the Iranian national epic. The first chapter investigates several of the most significant stories and their prominant heroes. Chapter two further crystalizes the evolutionary thesis of this study by illustrating its contribution to the process of hero creation and emphasizes heroic elements drawn from Ta'ziyeh, the passion play tradition. Chapter three, the Modern period, analyzes a vastly popular tragic literary and film hero, Shir Mammad of Tangsir by Sadeq Chuback. Finally, the study projects a description of the next most likely phase in the evolution of the hero concept. Part II concludes the study with an exemplum of the central thesis in the form of an original play in English by the author. The plot of this original drama is based upon an ancient and popular tale, The Story of Sohrab and Rostam. Reflected in this new version of the ancient tale, the reader will find a new definition of the hero which expresses some of the aspirations of the contemporary Iranian mind. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-08, Section: A, page: 2690. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74911 |
| Contributors | MOGHADDAM, MAHMOOD KARIMPOUR., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 194 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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