Inferiority in Persian proverbs

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 MA in popular Language and Literature,Payamenoor University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Persian language and literature Department,Payamenoor University, Teheran, Iran

10.30465/lir.2025.51294.1989
Abstract
Introduction
Human societies consist of people who differ from each other in terms of appearance, culture, lifestyle, morals and beliefs, etc., in such a situation, incompatibility, differences seem inevitable, but managing, and minimizing the existing incompatibilities is one of the basic conditions of a peaceful life. To achieve a space where people understand the "normality of these differences" and are ready to put aside any negative values ​​and prejudices and discriminatory views. You should try to fill those knowledge gaps that lead to conflict and discrimination; First, by enlightening about the importance of social tolerance and then by recognizing and rooting the factors of impotence. Rereading culture and studying cultural and literary productions, especially popular literature, can play an important role in representing the types and factors of poverty.

Materials & Methods
Many parables are the summary of a detailed allegory of a long folk story, which are expressed in the shortest and most beautiful form possible and flow in a specific and common language. The brevity of proverbs has made them more effective than other literary genres, and it can be said that their influence has caused their durability and survival over the years.From a sociological perspective, sociologists such as Peter King consider tolerance to be a part of social capital.
Peter King divides tolerance into four types: 1. Ideological tolerance, 2. Organizational tolerance, 3. Identity tolerance, 4. Behavioral tolerance (Bashiriyeh, 1379: 71).
In this division, identity tolerance means exercising tolerance towards characteristics that are not optional and includes tolerance towards followers of other religions (religious tolerance), tolerance towards people of other nationalities (national tolerance) and tolerance towards another ethnicity (ethnic tolerance). Political tolerance that refers to the acceptance of rights for groups that are not approved by the individual. Political tolerance means the recognition of the right of assembly of the owners of opposing opinions and the right of protest for groups that are not approved by the individual. Behavioral tolerance means not being harsh towards some behavioral patterns that are incorrect in the person's opinion, which includes three types of tolerance: : Tolerance in the patterns of sexual relations, tolerance towards crime and tolerance towards criminals. These three types of tolerance were measured using six situations that a person may be in in his relationships with others. The level of a person's willingness to accept these situations will show the level of his tolerance. These situations include marriage, neighborhood, companionship, partnership, cohabitation and transaction. (ibid)
Gold Schmidt has analytically divided social tolerance into active and passive groups; Active tolerance, in turn, is divided into two categories: abstract and objective. Abstract active tolerance means that a person verbally believes in tolerance towards others who are different
Although negative tolerance is a type of tolerance, but since they emphasize individualism and ignore the collective, they reinforce intolerance and strengthen the social divide. And on the other hand, by emphasizing personal utilitarianism, they invite people to negative tolerance, passivity, and indifference towards others, among the examples of impotence.

Discussion & Result
The proverbs studied in this research were extracted from the great collection of Persian proverbs (Hasan Zulfiqari, 2012). This book is a culture that is arranged in two volumes and contains about one hundred thousand proverbs and includes common proverbs in the territory of cultural Iran and the cultural areas of Persian speakers. On the one hand, it includes the proverbs of all Iranian dialects and languages, and on the other hand, it also includes Persian proverbs beyond the political borders of Iran today
The proverbs have been collected and numbered in alphabetical order from 1 to 99621, and in addition to the fact that each proverb is identified with a number, the origin and cultural and linguistic territory of each proverb is mentioned in the column. In addition, this dictionary contains a detailed thematic index, which is the general thematic classification of proverbs. In this research, 100 proverbs were extracted based on the topic and then categorized based on the desired components. In this research, the registration number in the big dictionary of Persian proverbs is used as the identification number of each proverb. In this research, 100 proverbs were extracted based on the topic and then categorized based on the desired components. In this research, the registration number in the big dictionary of Persian proverbs is used as the identification number of each proverb.

Conclusion
The results of this research show that in the 100 proverbs studied, 6 components of identity can be proposed: religious (9 proverbs), ethnic (17 proverbs), identity (19 proverbs), behavioral (2 proverbs), gender (22 proverbs), and general (14 proverbs). And among this, gender impotence has the highest number and frequency, which at this level can show the greater influence of the patriarchal discourse and the hegemonic thinking of men's superiority in the level of impotence compared to other discourses. Among the components of impunity, proverbs containing injustice with criminals have a low frequency compared to other forms of injustice. This can indicate a cultural silence and an effort to keep silent and not to incite crime and to prevent the normalization of crime, which itself is considered a cultural measure to reduce dogma by preventing normalization and normalization. According to the research findings listed in tables No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in Persian proverbs, there are proverbs Based on differences in religion, appearance, social class and income level, place of residence, ethnicity, and gender, there is an unequal view of different human groups, which is a sign of injustice. Also, based on the research findings listed in Table No. 7, there are proverbs in Persian proverbs. Emphasizing individualism and personal utilitarianism, it shows the social gap and disconnection between people. This form of tolerance, is actually intolerance towards oneself and a kind of distance from rationality. For example, tolerating oppressors and accepting social inequality is a negative form of tolerance that turns people into passive beings and ultimately frustrated people whose agency has been reduced.

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