Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

Realistic Stance and Its Relationship to Colloquialism: the Case of Tarix-e Beyhaqi

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Master's student in Civil Engineering, Khajeh Nasiruddin Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/nf.2026.510449.1392
Abstract
Most experts on Persian language and literature believe that colloquialism in Persian began in the contemporary period with the maturation of a new type of fiction, including short stories and novels. This is because it was in the contemporary period that Iranian writers, in dealing with the new situation in Europe, realized that they were facing a different era; and in this new era, they needed new literary forms and, consequently, a new language to express their views. The view of these experts is based on research conducted by European and American researchers observing European history. In the meantime, the Following point has not been addressed: What has caused European writers in the modern era to turn to colloquialism is the “realistic” stance they took, unlike their predecessors. In other words, what made colloquialism an inevitable necessity in Europe during the Enlightenment was the realistic stance that was adopted. However, among the ancient Persian works, we can find a few that, since they were written from this realistic stance, inevitably used colloquialism. In this article, we will try to explain the position of Abu'l-Fazl Beyhaqi, as the author of Tarix-e Beyhaqi, by citing his own writing and show that he wrote Tarix-e Beyhaqi from a realistic stance; and this stance made the use of colloquialism in this work an inevitable necessity; and we will take this as a preparation for the fact that basically what makes colloquialism an inevitable necessity is the realistic stance.
Keywords
Subjects

References
Sources are in Persian unless otherwise specified.
Abdollahiyan, Hamid (2002), The Literary Aspects of Tarikh-e Beyhaqi, Arak, University of Arak.
Bahar, Mohammad-Taghi (2002), Stylistics (The History of Changes in Persian Prose), Vol. 2, Tehran, Zavvar.
Beyhaqi, Abulfaezl (2008), Tarikh-e Beyhaqi, Aliakbar Fayyaz (ed.), Tehran, Hermes.
—— (2022), Tarikh-e Beyhaqi, Mohammad-Jʼafar Yahaghghi and Mehdi Seyyedi (Eds.), Vol. 1, Tehran, Sokhan.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor (2023), Notes from Underground with Fourteen Commentary, trans. Hamid-reza Atashbarab, Tehran, Elmi va Farhanghi.
Eslami Nodoushan, Mohammad-Ali (2009), "Beyhaqi’s Worldview", in Beyhaqi Memorial Volume, Mashhad, Ferdowsi’s University of Mashhad, pp. 33-58.
Kundera, Milan (2004), The Art of the Novel, trans. Parviz Homayounpour, Tehran, Ghatreh.
Mirabedini, Hassan (2001), One Hundred Years of Persian Fiction, Vol. 1 and 2, Tehran, Cheshmeh.
Najafi, Abolhassan (1999), The Dictionary of Colloquial Persian, Tehran, Niloufar.
Seyyedghasem, Leila (2019), The Rhetoric of Syntax Structures in Tarikh-e Beyhaqi, Tehran, Hermes.
Shafiei Kadkani, Mohammad-Reza (1996), Poetic Imagery in Persian Poetry (A Critical Study on the Changes of Imagery in Persian Poetry and the Trajectory of Rhetorical Theory in Islam and Iran), Tehran, Aghah.
Tabatabaʼi, Javad (2016), On Iran: An Introduction to the Theory of Decline of Iran, Vol. 2, Sec. 1, Tehran, Minoy-e Kherad.
Watt, Ian (2000), The Rise of Novel (Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding), Tehran, Elmi.
Volume 25, Issue 1 - Serial Number 101
Nameh Farhangestan (Grammar)
March and April 2026
Pages 149-158

  • Receive Date 06 March 2025
  • Accept Date 16 May 2025