Investigating the dimensions of lovemaking in "Balal" poems in Bakhtiari culture Based on Sternberg's theory of love

Love is one of the most important topics reflected in Bilal's folk poems in Bakhtiari culture. This study aims to see which story, dimensions of love, and the type of romantic relationship are highlighted in Bilal's poems. The theoretical basis of the research is Sternberg's love theory and the method of analysis is qualitative. In Bilal's poems, at the ideal level, all three dimensions of love: intimacy, passion, and commitment, are represented, and love is perfect; but on the level of reality, due to the difficulty of achieving all three dimensions, love is formed by a type of romantic or stupid love, which causes the lover and the beloved to be attracted to each other only emotionally, i.e. their romantic relationship is superficial. In terms of the type of love story, the story of art is more prominent in these poems, based on which the lover is seen as a statue whose beauties the lover enjoys watching. The limited reflection of the story of self-sacrifice and the story of addiction in these poems make the lover feel satisfied with his relationship. On the other hand, the woman feels important in the position of the lover, and consequently her life gains meaning.

Research Background

Research on Bilal's poems have been mostly conducted through collecting the poems, and analyzed at a very limited level. In books such as Bakhtiari folklore, Bakhtiari music and songs, Bakhtiari culture, the recognition and study of Bakhtiari music, and the history of literature in the Bakhtiari people, there are some indications of a few romantic verses related to the type of Bilal, and some features of the lover and the beloved in Bakhtiari folk poems and Bilal. The Bakhtiari Encyclopedia discusses the difference between Bilal (describing the beauties of the beloved) with Di Bilal (burnt and fascinated with the beloved), and Bilal Bilal (the end of lyric poetry). There are also some verses of each noted. In the book, entitled Newly Sprouted Celery in the Snow, the author considers Deyblal to be one of the oldest songs of Bakhtiari folklore literature and mentions that in the dialect of this song, according to the daily dialogues, some changes have taken place and the lyrics of this song are praised in celebrations, joys, and solitudes. In the book of Iranian popular language and literature, Bilal or Diblal is defined as a love poem. Therefore, it can be said that no independent research has been done on Bilal in general and the subject of love in particular.

Aims, questions and Hypotheses of Study

Bilal's popular poetry plays an effective role in institutionalizing a particular attitude towards love in Bakhtiari culture; because the listeners imitate the emotional experiences in them through empathy, assimilation, and sympathy. In this way, these poems find an important role in creating emotions, encouraging and ultimately institutionalizing them. Accordingly, it is necessary to study these poems based on scientific theories to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The aim of the current research is to study Bilal's poems, based on Sternberg's theory of love, so as to understand the dimensions of lovemaking in these poems as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Research questions are: According to Sternberg's theory of love, what dimensions of love and what types of romantic relationship are highlighted in Bilal's poems? The love theme of these poems corresponds to which love story in Sternberg's theory? And finally, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the theme of love in these poems?

Discussion

According to Sternberg, passion, intimacy, and commitment are the three dimensions of love. The dimension of passion refers to the attractiveness and lust of the lover-beloved relationship. The dimension of intimacy indicates the warm and emotional relationship between the lover and the beloved, and the aspect of commitment shows the commitment to the love relationship (Baron et al., 2009, p. 469). Sternberg believes that love is a story and in order to know the behavior of two people, it is necessary to see the narration of each, or what the story of love is about (Sternberg, 2017, p. 64-65). In Bilal's poems, attention has been paid to all three dimensions of love; but in terms of prominence and frequency, the most attention has been paid to the dimension of desire. The lover speaks of his passion and mania, and depicts the charms and beauties of the beloved. Also, analyzing the examples shows that the lover has paid more attention to the dimension of intimacy than commitment, and this indicates that creating a feeling of warmth, love, and closeness in the relationship was more important for him than the issue of building trust. Therefore, lack of attention to the dimension of commitment can be one of the weaknesses of the content of these poems. In Bilal's poems, love is perfect on the ideal level, and romantic and stupid on the level of reality.

Conclusion

An examination of the Bilal's poems based on Sternberg's theory of love shows that in this type of poetry, prevalent in Bakhtiari popular literature, all three aspects of love, namely intimacy, passion, and commitment, are highly manifested. Of course, in these poems, the lover is more at the ideal level of perfect love. However, on the level of reality, when the lover and the beloved talk about their real relationship, in some cases, they point to the lack of commitment or intimacy in their relationship, according to which, the type of love they have should be romantic and stupid love. In terms of the story of love, the story of art is more prominent in these poems, which shows that the lover enjoys the physical beauties of the beloved more, and looks at her like a work of art. The disadvantage of this kind of attitude is that the woman in the position of the beloved must always think of her own beauty, so that the man does not leave her as the lover. In these poems, the love stories of self-sacrifice and the love of addiction are rarely noted. The story of self-sacrifice causes satisfaction in the life of the lover, and in the story of addiction, the woman feels important to someone. Therefore, it gives meaning to her life.

References


Baron, R., Byrne, D. & Burnscomb, N. (2009). Social psychology (translated into Farsi by Yousef Karimi). Tehran: Ravan.
Sternberg, R. J. (1986). A triangular theory of love. Psychological Review, 93(2), 119-135.