Abstract
The present study was aimed to examine people's oral literature in Esfarayen, an old city located in North Khorasan. Esfarayen possesses unique characteristics and a special culture with a rich oral literature, because it receives different races and tribes, especially Karmanji Kurds, Turks, Tats, and Persians, coming from different parts of Iran. Esfarayen's oral literature like in other parts of Iran is the product of mental, spiritual conditions based on dreams, failures, hopes, fears, and struggles in different areas of work such as agriculture and livestock. People in Esfarayen use oral literature for security, peace, survival, recreation, cultural affairs, and daily tasks; their oral literature includes vocals, anecdotes, lullabies, beliefs, superstitions, quotations, curses, prayers, and dreams. It should be noted that no study has been conducted with this approach. Being native and being an MA student, and more importantly, paying attention to people's oral literature have been the reasons why the author has selected this subject in the field of cultural anthropology. This research, using two study methods, has tried to gather, classify, analyze, and describe a considerable portion of people's oral literature in Esfarayen. The results obtained from show that ideas and linguistic and cultural differences help to reinforce people's culture in Esfarayen. Vocals, beliefs, superstitions, music, lullabies, fortunes, legends, stories, and anecdote in Esfarayen are taken from people's dreams based on history. This thesis has been provided by relying on a field and documentary research method (interview, corporate observation) and using a theoretical framework of functionalism, diffusionism, and interpretivism. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3s2p86
Highlights
Human as a sociable creature is active in all dimensions of life; this activity includes both a materialistic and a nonmaterialistic aspect
Considering the above-mentioned, what is useful for our discussion on functionalism is to ask, "What are the cultural anthropology aspects in oral literature of people in Esfarayen, and how many of them are there?" considering functionalism, it must be made clear that what function this type of literature has for the society, and what need it meets, and what is the essence of this need
Since Esfarayen is located in Khorasan, a big historical province with strong civilization and cultural background and with myths, especially North Khorasan, it is full of oral literature like creeds, customs, vocals, lullabies, music, dances based on the memorials of heroes, agriculture, livestock, and religious traditions
Summary
Human as a sociable creature is active in all dimensions of life; this activity includes both a materialistic and a nonmaterialistic aspect. Oral literature consists of myths, stories, beliefs, proverbs, idioms, and enigmas which are cultural elements in Esfarayen, each of which can fulfill a certain need. We can refer to fables which are plentiful They can be recognized through their heroes, their role in social life, and concepts that are related to their styles. Stories and legends like any other cultural element change over time; and this trend slows down or speeds up depending on needs and time conditions; but the format and layout of stories remains the same. This can be studied in different stories among people in bordering provinces. Some of the tools are: plan for determining a study range, recorder and filming devices for recording and videoing speakers, paper and pencils for taking important notes or for cases where recording is impossible
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