A Comparative Study of the Hero Archetype in the Davari Shahnameh of the Qajar Period (1238-1283 A.H.) Based on the Morphological Theory of Propp

Volume 13, Issue 47
Spring 2025
Pages 6-19

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Painting, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Ph.D. Student, Department of the Art Research, Faculty of Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract
Painting of the Qajar era has expanded meanings. One of these meanings is the existence ofthe main character with the archetypal theme of the hero archetype. This feature can be seen not only in large-scale oil paintings but also in the small miniature manuscripts of this period. Davari Shahnameh ( in Persian Shahnameh Davari) is one of the miniature manuscripts of the Shahnameh in this period, in which the hero archetype is prominent. One of the contemporary theories in this field is the morphological theory of Propp, in which this Russian analyst attempts to classify epic stories and their characters. Iranian culture has a deep relationship with the hero archetype and creates mythical heroes in Iranian literature. This issue is important in the manuscript of Shahnameh Davari as the last official and complete Iranian Shahnameh in the Qajar period. This research aims to study the hero archetype in the Shahnameh Davari manuscript in the Qajar period. According to the cultural changes of this period, the character of the hero is represented differently, and investigating it with Propp’s morphological theory can suggest a new meaning of this character in this period. The main question of the research is as follows: According to Propp’s morphological theory, how is the archetype of the hero redefined and interpreted in the paintings of Shahnameh Davari? The methodology in this paper is qualitative research to gather non-numerical data to produce insights, and Shahnameh Davari was studied by the descriptive-analytical method. Also, based on Propp’s theory, it explains the redefinition of the hero archetype as a mythological archetype. The results of the research clearly show that the archetype of the hero is particularly important in the version of Shahnameh Davari, and it is compatible with evolution and development in the morphology of the figures of this Shahnameh.

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