Entry to the National Epic of Iran

In the present book, the topic of whether the Shahnameh is oral or written, which is a subset of the more important issue of the formation and compilation of Iran’s national epic, is deliberately not addressed. Instead, attention is given to the duality of viewpoints between Westerners and Iranians and the influence they have had on other discussions, with one of the book’s aims being to highlight this duality. Another topic intentionally omitted is Ferdowsi’s poetic style and his influence from pre-Islamic Iranian poetic styles. So far, little research has been conducted on this subject and ancient Iranian poetic methods. Sometimes some Iranian scholars reject the connection of the Shahnameh with oral poetry to the extent that they consider Ferdowsi, like Manoochehri and many other qasida poets, influenced by Arabic poetry, forgetting that Ferdowsi, unlike qasida poets, did not have the model of Arabic qasidas before his eyes, and similarities between the Shahnameh and contemporary qasidas can be interpreted differently. The main emphasis of this book is on various approaches to the core issues of Iran’s national epic, and therefore many individuals are not mentioned; however, this does not mean ignoring their efforts and research in the field of epic studies. The book uses the results of many researchers’ investigations, even if the author completely disagrees with their methods and conclusions.