Abstract: (8918 Views)
Examining folk culture and literature plays a major role in understanding a society. It can reveal some historical and social points and explain the philosophy of certain traditions and rituals. The engravings on objects, the writings at the entrance of buildings, and tombstones are considered as examples of folk literature whose study and analysis may shed some light on the literary and social issues. In the present study, the existing writings on different portable objects based on three available written sources have been scrutinized. Besides examining the rhyme and aesthetic features, the themes of the poems on the objects were classified into eleven categories including describing the object or its function, assigning ownership of the object to a specific person, citing the name of craftsman (maker) for the object, inviting people to happiness and joy, citing ethical themes, citing prayers, assigning a specific production location for the object, citing love relations and dialogues, conveying eulogies, and citing chronograms. The significant point revealed in this study was the appropriateness of the poems or rhythmic language on the object with the object in use itself. This indicates the good taste and wit of the general public, the craftsmen, and audience for this genre of literature. At the same time, the researcher observed certain changes or distortions and rhyme imperfections.
Received: 2015/05/10 | Accepted: 2015/10/18 | Published: 2016/02/20