Discourse encounter with Frankish Beloved in Persian literature

Beloved in Persian literature often has an Iranian identity and the signs of the beauty of his body are derived from Iranian aesthetic. other types of beloveds in the geography of Persian literature are non-Iranian which may be Arabic, Indian, Turkish, or Frankish. these are interpreted as other. Part of the process of our understanding of the "other" in relation to "ourselves" is the result of body awareness and bodily perceptions whether a natural body or a cultural body. many researches whose subject is the examination of the image of the beloved in Persian literature none of them have addressed what and how it is a type of love. The main question was who is Frankish beloved? And how is it represented in Persian literature? This question brings other questions that we will address in the article. The findings show that the image of a Frankish beloved is not different from an Iranian beloved and the same codes and signs of body beauty that an Iranian beloved has are also used for a Persian Beloved. In addition, the most common form of love interest is in the branch of poetry and especially the sub-genre of the romantic lyric.
Extended abstract
 
1. Introduction
If we use nationality or ethnicity as the criterion for classifying the beloved in the history of Persian literature, the subject (regarding identification) of the beloved can be divided into five types: Iranian, Indian, Turkish, Arabic and Frankish. The terms Farak and Frankish have traces from the earliest periods of the history of Persian Dari literature (see Abu Sa'id Abu al-Khair, 1955: 54 and 75; Ferdowsi, 1989: 5/19-20 and 50; Sa'di, 1984: 331). The Western beloved in the Shahnameh is Roman against Iranian; in Khosrow and Shirin Roman and Armenian against Iranian and in the subgenre of the love Ghazal of the Safavid period especially in the poems of Saʼeb-e Tabrizi, Jouyay-e Tabrizi, Bidel-e Dehlavi, Qodsi-e Mashhadi and... is European, Armenian, Georgian and Russian. The Frankish beloved is first represented in the Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Nezami's Khosrow and Shirin and then in Attar's Mantegh al-Tayr. After this the Frankish beloved entered Persian Ghazal based on the aforementioned works and had the same characteristics as those mentioned in these works. From the Safavid period onwards the aesthetic manifestations of the Frankish beloved in Persian Ghazal became more and more diverse. Despite the many examples and testimonials of this beloved in Persian literature no independent research has been conducted on this subject and the way in which it is represented in Persian literature is unknown. Therefore, the present article attempts to show after stating the characteristics of the figures of the Frankish beloved based on the collected testimonials whether these characteristics have only a descriptive and aesthetic aspect or whether they are a cultural and discursive issue?
 
 2. Research Methodology
The research method of this article is qualitative research. This method analyzes the subject of the research based on the identification, collection and classification of non-quantitative (qualitative) data. Library resources on which the present study is based are a type of non-quantitative data on which the required information can be collected. In the present study from the third to the thirteenth century AH we searched for sources in which we thought we would find descriptions of the image of the Frankish beloved including sources of poetry and prose. The texts were selected randomly but in general the two pre-Safavid and Safavid periods were considered in terms of time. After this we tried to show how the image of the Frankish beloved was represented in the works of Persian poets and writers. Before this we first looked at research in which we thought we would find traces of the image of the Frankish beloved.
 
3. Discusstion
The body is associated with two interpretations: “natural body” and “cultural body” (see Zarghani et al.: 2019: 34). Each of these interpretations is an approach to how the body has been encountered in the history of literature. In the first approach the organs are merely represented such as the descriptions of the body in the “Sarapanameh”. The natural body focuses on the beauty of the body which may have an erotic or aesthetic dimension but the second approach carries cultural codes and signs that constitute the identity and structure of the dominant discourse. In this way we have divided the structure of this article into two parts: “Characteristics of the body of the Frankish beloved” and “Discursive encounter with the Frankish beloved”. In the first part what has been of most interest to Persian speakers is the face, eyes, eyelashes, height, skin color, coyness and modesty. The second part begins with this question: Is the image of these characters represented in Persian, Roman and Armenian Literature Frankish or Iranian? The coexistence of non-Iranian characters and Iranian aesthetic indicators has made the depictions indigenous. Here a set of Iranian symbolic systems of colors, clothing and makeup have been transferred to a non-Iranian body and have covered and adorned it. The function of these symbolic systems is to localize a non-Iranian element in the discourse of Iranian culture. In this way, imagery as a discursive element causes the dynamism and development of one's own culture, transforming it from a one-dimensional state to a multifaceted one; a space that also carries intercultural links and messages. Imagery as a discursive tool not only enhances the aesthetic quality of literature but also plays an important role in reshaping and revitalizing cultural identity. By introducing new dimensions and perspectives it challenges stereotypical views and provides a more accurate understanding of one’s own culture. This dynamic process shows how literature can both reflect the aesthetic standards and values ​​of one’s own (indigenous) culture and be a window to external dialogues.
 
4. Conclusion
The audience of Persian Ghazal poetry considers what they see in the cultural world around them beautiful and consequently projects and generalizes the desirable features of physical beauty. This is why we do not have a different image of Katayoun, Maryam, Shirin and Tarsa Girl who are the type of Frankish beloved in Persian literature compared to the image of the Iranian beloved. Before the Safavid period, the adjective "Frankish" was not used to describe the beauty of the body of the beloved. From the Safavid period onwards terms such as Frankish gaze/eyelash, Frankish eyelashes, Frankish face, Frankish color, Frankish modesty, agile height of the Frankish and the beauty of the Frankish idol were introduced into Persian lyric poetry. However, the aforementioned characteristics are not such as to create a distinction in the image of the Frankish beloved. Therefore, the Frankish beloved has the physical characteristics of the Iranian beloved and represents the aesthetic discourse of the Iranian beloved. The body of the Frankish beloved in Persian literature is not an imitation of his real body and face but a constructed body. The constructed body is a cultural, climatic, historical and discursive phenomenon. therefore, it is a relative category because its representation in different cultures, places, times and discourses is different. Representing the Frankish beloved in the physical characteristics and clothing of the Iranian beloved is a type of artistic transformation that helps enrich the native culture. The artistic adaptation of foreign elements within the framework of the native culture acts as a creative mechanism for cultural enrichment. By embodying the Frankish beloved in the physical characteristics of the Iranian beloved this type of representation strengthens the native identity and expresses the flexibility and adaptability of the native culture in the face of intercultural relations.
 
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