A Hypertextual Study of the Miniature of “Shirin Bathing” in Persian Miniature and Contemporary Painting “Khosrow and Shirin” Based on the Views of Gerard Genette

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Art Research Student - Faculty of Art - Al-Zahra University of Tehran

Abstract

 
Gérard Genette is one of the researchers who has examined the relationships between literary texts and classified them. He uses the term hypertextuality concerning interaction and adaptation between two or more literary texts. Hypertextual relations are not confined to literary texts and also include works of art, and artworks can be observed from the perspective of hypertextuality. Rokni Haerizadeh's painting “Khosrow and Shirin” is one of the works in which interpretation and classification depend on the recognition of preceding works of art. “Shirin Bathing” is one of the most prominent paintings in the illustrated manuscripts from Khamsa of Nizami in different historical phases of Persian painting. By adopting and modifying it, the contemporary artist has created a new work of art that owns its unique dynamism and innovation. The painting  Shirin Bathing is one of the paintings that has been depicted many times in the history of Iranian painting. It seems that the painters in the illustration of these works were influenced by the written text of  Khosrow and Shirin poems as well as the illustrated copies before them. In such cases, the term hypertextuality can be used, which is based on excerpts and was coined by Gerard Genette. hypertextuality deals with the relationships between those literary texts in which the existence of the second text depends on the first text. Here the studied texts are visual.
This article seeks to answer this question that how to analyze Rokni Haerizadeh’s painting "Khosrow and Shirin" based on Genette's theories about hypertextuality and what kind of hypertext does it represent (according to Genet)? Here, Shirin Bathing's paintings are considered as a hypertext to this work. This study investigates different kinds of modifications that have taken place in the process of this adaptation and new meanings which have been created in contemporary artwork. Therefore, it has scrutinized Rokni Haerizadeh's painting Khosrow and Shirin and variants of Shirin Bathing (as subject matter) in Persian painting from the perspective of Gérard Genette's hypertextuality to determine the relations between these works.
Gerard Genette is one of the most prominent scholars and critics of literature and art in the second half of the twentieth century. He is one of those who have proposed new and appropriate designs for the typology of works, especially recent literary and artistic works, and one of the new theories in the field of typology has been proposed by him. “Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree” is a book written by Gérard Genette in 1982 on the concept of hypertextuality. Linguistic typology of hypertextuality deals with the excerption-originated texts. According to Genette, this phenomenon implies any occasion that unites the second text (more than one text) with the first text (hypertext). The hypertextual relation is an ontological relation. That is, if it is not the first text, the second text will not be formed. Genette argues that the meaning of hyper-textual works depends on the reader's knowledge of the hypertext that the hyper-text alters or imitates for adaptation. The textuality of the subject (literary, artistic text, etc.), having two or more texts, having a definite relation between the text (the first text that is considered as a source of inspiration and excerpt) and more text (text that Adapted from the text) is required for the study of hypertextuality and the typology of hypertextuality. Genette attempts to discover impressive and influential relations. Upon a short literature review on linguistic typology and factors to classify literary tips, he goes with indices for the linguistic typology of hypertextuality. Functionality is one of them, which Genette classifies it into two satirical and non-satirical categories (fanciful, satirical, and non-satirical). He then describes the central concept of intertextuality (to being connected to other texts) and classifies it in hypertextuality into two imitations (stylistic emulation) and transformation (stylistic alteration). According to these two categories, he introduces six hypertextual groups, including pastiche, charge, forgery, parody, travesty (travestissement), and transposition. pastiche is a species that is created by the intersection of two indicators of imitation and recreation and is a style imitation that has a recreational function. a charge is a type that is created by the intersection of two indicators of imitation and humor. And it is a style imitation that has a humorous function. forgery is a serious imitation of the text (non-humorous and serious function). Parody, on the one hand, expresses the light transformation of the text concerning the text, and on the other hand, has a fun function. In a parody, the goal is to joke and create new and often entertaining lyrics. But transposition seriously changes the style and reproduces the text. Intra-art adaptations are often like this. Finally, travesty arises from the intersection of two indices of transformation and humor. Genette's hypertextuality approach to literary texts mainly deals with the text's structure, we further consider visual and structural features of the text when studying texts like paintings as a sketch.
By examining these drawings, we try to find common codes in the image that have not changed much over time and are common to some of these drawings. Considering that the painters always tried to express what is depicted clearly and expressively and to convey the message of the work with the least ambiguity, we come across cases where the codes are the main messengers in the image. And have been preserved over the centuries and have not changed much. In the following, considering the contemporary work (Khosrow and Shirin Haerizadeh's painting) as a hypertext, we examine how to change each of these codes and try to find a type of hypertextuality in this excerpt. In examining the images, one can consider aspects of the narrative that lead to the image, composition and color, payment of faces and human states, as well as naturalism and background payment of the work in each painting. Examining the changes in these image codes, we find that the type of relationship between the hypertext and the hypertext is transformation (a fundamental change in the style of the hypertext), and most of the changes that occur in the common code of the hypothetical hypertext. It is a humorous change aimed at lowering the ideal values ​​of the prefaces. The painter has referred to the preceding paintings and stylistic and thematic destruction of them to express associated modern concerns. It seems that the hypertextual genre in this case is a travesty or satirical transformation of previous works. The results show that the hypertextuality type in this adaptation is a kind of Travestissement. According to Genette's opinion, the travesty hypertextuality is formed by crossing two indices of transformation relation and the satirical function. The travesty destroys its Hypotexts and alters its reality according to a satirical approach. We further can see such satirical destruction of the Hypertext in Khosrow and Shirin of Rokni Haerizadeh. The painter ridicules the poetic and romantic spirit of the work and the singing love of lovers, which is well accepted in Persian literature, and then attempts to alter them and create new meanings by referring to texts to the extent of the reader's ability to perceive them. These meanings are only perceivable by a correct understanding of the Hypertext. Here, the idealistic blitheness and beauty of nature are deformed entirely and the heavenly landscape turns into the middle of nowhere. The identity and originality of the characters in the story are also severely ridiculed. The splendor and beauty of the romantic scene turn into a strange and meaningless show that is performed in a more earthly and materialistic atmosphere. It is as if all the elements of the image have become worthless imitations of their origin. Certainly, the presence of painting prefixes and following the process of their transformation helps a lot in understanding and reading the work. This study is basic in terms of its purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of its research method.
 
 
 
 
 

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References

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