An Intersemiotic Analysis of the Verbal Text of “Majnun in Ka'bah” from Nizami's Khamsa with Two Visual Texts from the Herat School with an Emphasis on the Role of the Illustrator in the Creation of the Artwork

 
One of the verbal texts that have always been transformed into visual texts throughout the history of Islamic Iranian painting is the Nizami’s Khamsa and the romantic poem, "Layla and Majnun". Among the Nizami stories, "Majnun trip to the Ka'bah" has been an attractive subject for illustration. Illustrators have tried to convert verbal texts into visual texts, in addition to being faithful to the hypotext, they can help their viewers in inducing the contents of the verbal text with individual interpretation in the form of visual text. The individual interpretation of the illustrators in reading the verbal text has led to transformation and understanding the concepts in the visual text. Some illustrators, in order to express their ability, not in the form of the skill of transforming verbal texts into visual text, but in order to express their artistic identity, have created elements in their illustrations. The separation of these elements reveals the difference in interpretation of literary texts by illustrators. The two illustrations of "Majnun in Ka'bah" from the Herat school have a single theme, but there are differences between the visual elements of these illustrations. The current research aims to find out the difference between the elements in the verbal text and the two visual texts "Majnun in Ka'bah" in Nizami’s Khamsa, painted in the Herat School, and seeks to identify the illustrator's contribution through his interpretation in the creation of the work. Therefore, it raises the question: What differences can be found by studying the verbal and visual texts of "Majnun in Ka'bah" that are the result of the illustrator's interpretation? This research has been done by collecting data through documentation and library studies with the method of intersemiotic comparison and analysis and with Gérard Genette’s transtextuality approach. This approach is an efficient approach due to the reading and classification of relationships between two texts in separating the contribution of the illustrator from the author. The association of this research is two depictions of "Majnun in Ka'bah" from the Herat school. An illustration belonging to Nizami’s Khamsa and preserved in the library and archive of Topkapı Palace Museum, with the ID (H. 781, fol. 111v) is about 1445 AD (Milstein, 2021: 335), which will be studied in the process of formation of the research with the title text A (image 1). The second illustration belongs to Nizami’s Khamsa around 1517 AD. It is attributed to Behzad, which is kept in the British Museum Library; in the research process, this illustration is called text B (image 2). Examining the differences and commonalities of these texts has been neglected in art studies due to the perception of the illustrator's contribution and its effect on the perception of verbal text concepts, which has made the necessity of this research a reality. By analysing the themes and relationships between the texts and the results listed in tables (1) and (2), it was determined, two visual texts in intertextuality, in addition to faithfulness to the hypotext with explicit and implicit references, have considered the presence of the verbal text in the visual text, and have explicitly addressed the hypotext with a verbal quotation with borrowed and migrant elements; The illustrator of text A has increased the internal elements of the text with her interpretation. But the illustrator of text B has transformed it by depending more on the hypotext and with a serious and complete imitation in the form of Forgery, in the continuation of the verbal text with little changes, he has expressed his loyalty to its theme and content in the new situation. Elements based on the interpretation of the illustrator cannot be found in text B. In relation to the Intertextuality of borrowed elements, it is clear and obvious. The relationship of the hypotext with the hypertext in the hypertextuality is transposition by serious transformation in a new space with distortion, increase and substitution, which has led to the expansion of internal elements in the hypertext. The elements that the illustrator of text A has added to the visual text, independent of the verbal text, along with the migrant elements, reveal her interpretation of the analysis of the semantic patterns of the text language and the contents of the verbal text. The illustrator of text A has not only limited herself to the general theme of the hypotext, but has explained its content in the hypertext in a metatextual relationship. The result of the illustrator's interpretation is the creation of unattainable and supernatural concepts by adding elements based on her visual memory and mental assumptions, such as mad prayer by the Majnun, by the hands of heavenly beings. The increase of these visual elements makes the difference between the two illustrators in creating a common theme. In addition to describing and expanding the meanings, the effect of the illustrative interpretation of text A has caused the explanation of the concepts of the verbal text.