ریخت‌شناسی منظومۀ محب و محبوب بر اساس الگوی ولادیمیر پراپ

The poem "Moheb and Mahboub" is a romantic Mathnavi in the style of Persian Ten Letters, composed by a poet by the name or pen name of Ekhtiar in the ninth century. This article attempts to examine the narrative structure of this unknown story from the perspective of Propp (1895-1970) using a morphological approach. The authors examine the structure of the story 'Moheb and Mahboub', using a descriptive-analytical method based on the text of the poem and the morphological framework of Propp's fairy tales. The findings reveal that the structure of the story comprises twenty functions, one movement, and five characters. The plot lacks a villain, and the supporting element plays a prominent role in the story's flow, to the extent that in some cases, the supporting characters take on the main roles and even appear as seekers in the story. The story features one move, and an in-depth study of its structure shows that fertility rituals influenced the story's structure. Considering the presence of ten characters who help and accompany the Moheb, the Saba wind, the seven countries, the Hudhud, and other symbolic birds, this story can be considered a metaphorical story.
Introduction
In 1928, Propp laid the foundation for the theory of structuralism in narratology by studying the morphology of Russian fairy tales. Inspired by the ideas of Ferdinand de Saussure, he proposed the morphological model (one of the foundational concepts of structural criticism) in his book Morphology of the Folktale. According to Propp, only when we move from theme and content to form and structure can we regularize the beginning, development, and ending of all fairy tales worldwide. Propp's method, especially in the separation of story and plot, was significantly influenced by the formalists. He categorized folk tales based on their formal rules and called the product of his work Morphology of the Folktale, which he defined as the description of tales based on their constituent elements and the relation of these structures to each other and to the whole tale. According to this view, by analyzing all stories, a single structure can ultimately be achieved in all of them; therefore, by structurally analyzing the story of the unknown Moheb and the Mahboub, authors try to study the functions and their sequence in different roles of the story and, by comparing them with Propp's theory, to determine the extent to which these functions conform to the features present in the story.

Materials and Methods

Using a descriptive-analytical method, the authors try to answer these questions: What is the structure of the story according to Propp's theory of fairy tale morphology? How many of Propp's thirty-one functions are observed in the poem 'Moheb and Mahboub'? What is the pattern of plot movement in this poem? What are the characteristics of the plot in terms of structure, character, and characterization? To this end, after extracting the data and analyzing them based on Propp's theory of morphology, the extent to which this story conforms to this theory will be studied.

Results and Discussion

In light of the studies conducted based on Propp's model, the story of "Moheb and Mahboub” has the following features: The opening scene (not among functions), absence, need, mission and the difficult task, lament or song, meeting with the helper, prohibition and warning of something, reaction of friends, breach of prohibition, intermediacy, connecting event departure, preparation gift with a material nature, hero riding on horse, consent to confrontation, reaction, getting information from other people, announcement of calamity, need for a bride, asking for help, need for helper, guide, receiving news from other sources, hero being shown the way, recognizing the hero, working out calamity, "healing" doing the difficult task, obtaining the sought-after object, getting married, sitting on the throne, and receiving the reward.
Propp proves the existence of seven characters in stories: villain, generous, helper, princess, dispatcher, hero, and false hero. He explains the characters’ field of action in three relationships:

The field of action is proportional to the character himself and his will.
A character willingly participates in the field of action of another.
Several characters operate in the same field of action.

The characters in the story of Moheb and Mahboub are: the hero, the valiant, the loving seeker: Moheb; the princess, Mahboub’s father, the King of China; The generous: Mahboub’s father; Helpers: Moheb’s friends, Nosrat, and young friends, birds, Hudhud, and the Saba wind; the dispatcher: Nosrat, Hudhud, and the Saba wind. Of the seven characters mentioned in Propp's model, there are five: the hero, the princess, the generous, the helper, and the dispatcher. An important detail is that the villain and anti-hero play no role in this text, which reveals the difference between this story and fairy tales. Here, the prince sees the princess in his dream and falls in love with her, and in fact, he also plays the role of the generous. At the beginning of the story, Moheb's friends play the role of the dispatcher and become his helpers as the story continues. By studying the story of the Moheb and the Mahboub, it is clear that the movements in this story are of the second type, according to the above classification; that is, the development of the plot is tied to the mission being completed. The mission involves finding the beloved whom the lover has seen in his dream. The people around the lover prevent him from doing the difficult task (which in their opinion, is an impossible task), but the lover does not give up. The movement in this text is of the single-movement type in terms of theme and content. This story begins with a lack and a need and ends with marriage and kingship. In fact, the story begins with an initial balance. With a dream, this balance is disrupted, and the search for the princess begins. Helpers enter the scene one after another, and finally, with the help of Hudhud and the Saba wind, the princess is found, and with the hero's wedding and kingship, balance is restored. The plot has a uniform course. The protagonist falling in love during sleep and becoming aware of the time of death in a dream shows that sleep and dreams are very important elements in this love story, as in others. Likewise, the marriage of Mahboub at the beginning of spring shows that the author paid great attention to the myth of fertility, of which spring (considered a symbol of the rebirth of nature) is a central part. The hero receives help from natural forces such as the Saba wind, birds like the parrot, nightingale, hawk, pigeon, cuckoo, Huma, and especially the mythical Hudhud, along with the character of the fairy, who is so important that the beloved makes the lover’s distance from her a condition for marriage. This shows that this story also has a cryptic and symbolic aspect. Another notable point in this story, which distinguishes it from other fairy tales, is the abundance of educational points and the poet's great attention to seeking counsel in important matters.

Conclusion

The analysis of the poem Moheb and Mahboub based on Propp's theory shows that this story is compatible with the morphological theory in many ways, and in most cases, Propp's model is consistent with the text. The story begins with an initial equilibrium before the crisis. Among Propp's functions, twenty functions are seen in this system. Need, Intermediacy, meeting with the helper, prohibition, and violation of prohibition are the most frequent functions of this story, while functions related to evil and struggle are not present. This absence marks the most important difference between this story and other fairy tales. As Propp himself notes, however, it is not possible for all functions to appear in every story.
Among the seven characters that Propp presents in the morphology of fairy tales, five characters are seen in this story: the hero, the princess, the generous, the helper, and the dispatcher. Here, the role of the helper is very prominent, to the point that in some cases the helpers take on the main role of the story and appear as the seeker. An interesting feature of this text is the absence of a villain and antihero, a character who is considered one of the main features in morphology and structural analysis. This poem is a one-movement story that begins with the function of lack and need and, after passing through intermediary functions, ends with marriage and ascension to kingdom. An important aspect of the plot is the symbolism reflected in several main characters. Considering the ten young friends, attendants, and Moheb's friends (whose names themselves indicate their symbolic nature) along with the Saba wind, the seven countries, the Hudhud, and other symbolic birds, it is reasonable to consider this story as a symbol. This is especially true given that moral and educational concepts are expressed at various points throughout this lyrical poem. There are motifs and elements in the story of the lover and the beloved that can be seen in fertility myths; the Moheb's journey to the second country, finding the beloved, their marriage in spring, and his becoming the king, strengthen the mythical connection between this story and fertility rituals.