The Proportion of Colors in Imagery and Shah-Nameh’s Narrative Core
Subject Areas : Research in Iranian classical literature
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Keywords: epic Shah-Nameh imagery color narrative core structure,
Abstract :
one of the important elements related to imagery in the close analysis of any poet’s stylistic levels, is color; which associates his thoughts and passions on one hand, and subject and theme of the poetic work on the other hand. Therefore the analysis and survey of the manner in which color is utilized within stylistic poets’ works- who do not copy others’ works- is a path for recognizing their inner world; while it is also a critical approach on their artistic and literary potentialities in using a variety of imagery elements. For this purpose, the present article surveys the process used for utilizing color in Ferdowsi’s imagery and the poet’s concern about proportion and the consistency of colors along with the narrative core within Shah-Nameh stories. It is revealed that color lacks any originality in Ferdowsi’s imagery; yet there is a meaningful relation between the function of color with the content, events and the incidents taking place through the story. That is why the color of the heroes’ horses coordinates in many instances with the story’s core narrative and the etymology of their owner; while the bradawl of each hero appears with a specific and certain color and role. What is more, the color of the tent of each individual famous figure differs with the other ones. These issues have the potential for a symbolic paraphrase in some cases and show Ferdowsi’s ability in using all and every literary potentiality. In this essay through showing the used frequency of each color in Shah-Nameh, the accurate comparison of colors has become possible; showing that 53.69% of the atmosphere of the used colors in Shah-Nameh, belongs to cold and dark colors due to war, and epical atmosphere and the black colors, as a group, possesses 33.29% as the most used color.