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The Ṭuṭīnāma of Ḳˇāja Żiāʿ-al-Dīn Naḵšabī; Form, Content, and Didactic Elements
Abstract
This paper analyzes form, content, and didactic elements of the 14th century Ṭuṭīnāma (“Tales of a Parrot”) by the renowned Persian mystic and poet, Ḳˇāja Żiāʿ-al-Dīn Naḵšabī. Ṭuṭīnāma belongs to the Tales of a Parrot literary tradition, which is a seminal story cycle with numerous renditions and rewritings; a didactic work concerning morality, gender, and sexuality. The Tales of a Parrot story cycle takes its origins from a Sanskrit text known as Šukā-Saptatī (“Seventy Tales of a Parrot”), of unknown date and authorship. The works of the Tales of a Parrot story cycle comprise a collection of stories, many of them allegorical, narrated by a parrot to a merchant’s wayward wife, in order to prevent her from engaging in fornication while her husband is away for business. The first text of this story cycle was introduced to the Persian literature by the thirteenth century Emād bin Moḥammad Ṯaḡrī through his translation of a Sanskrit work. After Ṯaḡrī many Persian authors attempted to create their own version of the Tales of a Parrot, leading to the formation of the story cycle. Ṯaḡrī’s subsequent version, the Ṭuṭīnāma of Naḵšabī, However, had a principal role in forming the later versions of this story cycle. This paper will expound on the nature and importance of the Ṭuṭīnāma of Naḵšabī. Through the analysis of form, content, and didactic elements, I will offer an alternative view of the Tales of a Parrot story cycle beyond the predominant notion of these mores as literary works of mere entertainment. What are the thematic formulas observed throughout Naḵšabī’s work? What do these themes suggest to us about the overall structure of the Tales of a Parrot story cycle? By engaging in discourse analysis and literary analysis, this paper will show that like its ancient Indian prototype, the Šukā-Saptatī, the Ṭuṭīnāma had a practical value: it was composed to teach man the principles of polity through allegories and indirect language.
Discipline
Literature
Geographic Area
None
Sub Area
None