Goethe's Influence from Hafez Requires Re-examination

Hamadan – A Hafez scholar and university professor stressed the need to re-examine common interpretations of the influence of German poet and thinker Goethe on Persian literature, saying that our understanding of the relationship between Hafez and Goethe is incomplete.

Ahmadan-hafizologist and university professor emphasized the need to revise the common perceptions about the influence of the German poet and thinker Goethe on Persian literature and said: Our understanding of the relationship between Hafez and Goethe is not complete.

According to Mehr reporter, Mustafa Hosseini criticized the common beliefs about the intellectual relationship between Goethe and Hafez and stated: The general perception in Iran is that Goethe was an unknown figure until he got acquainted with Hafez's poems and after that he achieved a literary status.

Pointing out that Goethe had become an established figure in German literature before the publication of "Eastern-Western" in 1819, he added: Goethe was 69 years old at the time of the publication of this work, and he cannot be considered a young poet who owes his literary identity to Hafez, and Goethe's name in Germany is above all associated with the play "Faust" and in his youth with the novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" Europe resonated and found such a place that Napoleon Bonaparte was one of its prominent readers.

This hafizologist and university professor stated about Goethe's theory of world literature: "Eastern-Western" divan was a conscious attempt to establish a connection between the literary tradition of the East and the West. It is worth considering that, contrary to the exclusive idea that considers only Hafez as a source of Goethe's inspiration, Saadi also had a special place in his intellectual system, so that traces of inspiration from Saadi are evident in about 20 of Goethe's works, and "Eastern-Western" divan also commemorates Saadi. It ends.

Pointing out that Goethe has about 60 essays about Iran, he emphasized: Goethe's encounter with Hafez was beyond the imitation of romantic themes. He is one of the first to emphasize the humorous aspect of Hafez's poetry, which itself indicates a kind of deep literary understanding and interpretation.

In the continuation of this conference, Hossein Tahzaibi, a hafizologist and researcher of Hamadani, emphasized the necessity of giving space to the new generations and said: Over time, humans become attached to their intellectual frameworks and it becomes difficult to cross them, and new words should be expected from the new generations.

Referring to the increase in the average human lifespan in the present era, he stated: In the past, due to the short lifespan of intellectual generations, they were replaced with a shorter interval, but today, the long-term presence of professors in scientific chairs, if there is no space for criticism and evolution, can lead to intellectual stagnation in universities.

In the end, with a different approach to new technologies, this Hamadani conservationist said: artificial intelligence can be a blessing for today's intellectual environment, because by creating a platform for questioning and challenging established beliefs, it helps to break repetitive frameworks and open new paths for thinking.