International Society for Iranian Studies

Folklore and Anthropology

Author(s): Ulrich Marzolph
Source: Iranian Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3/4, A Review of the "Encyclopaedia Iranica" (Summer -
Autumn, 1998), pp. 325-332
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian Studies
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 Iranian Studies, volume 31, numbers 3-4, Summer/Fall 1998

Ulrich Marzolph

Folklore and Anthropology

FOLKLORE AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETHCENTURYIN A VERY BROAD
sense is understoodto encompassthe expressive culture of any notable group of
people. As implied by the original meaning of the word "lore"when the term
"folklore"was coined in 1846, traditionis a vital ingredientof folklore. Yet not
all foLklorerelies on centuriesof tradition:Customs may become obsolete, live
on submergedfor centuries before being revived, or come into being all anew:
Durationratherthan historicalroots makes folklore. The folk, on the other hand,
is not necessarilyconstituted by the uneducatedmasses, as a conservativepoint
of view would have it: Folklore is not germaneto specific social stratabut rather
to substantialnumbers of individualssharing similar ideas or activities. In this
sense folkore encompasses a wide range of cultural expression, ranging from
popularbeliefs and customs to myths, legends, and other genres of oral litera-
ture/verbalart. The obvious overlap of certain aspects in folklore studies and
anthropologyis inter alia signaled by contemporaryPersian terminology, most
commonly rendering folklore as farhang-e mardom and anthropology as
mardom-shenaisi.
The editors of the EIr have stressedfrom the very beginning that folklore is
within their general frame of interest.While in the introductionto the first vol-
ume, topics of "folkloric interest"are quotedlast in the list of eleven topics to
be covered, this orderis not meant to suggest ranking of importance. On the
contrary, in a subsequent statement, Iranian ethnography and folklore are
expressly includedin a listing of subjects that are particularlystressed. Jean
Calmardhas served as the consultingeditor for folklore since the EIr's inception,
himself contributinga numberof major entries in the field of traditionaland
popularreligious customs. Startingfrom volume VI, Calmardhas restrictedhis
responsibility as consulting editor to his original field of popular religion, with
MahmoudOmidsalarofficially serving as the new consulting editor for foLklore.
The engagementof Omidsalar-who is trainedin both classical Persian literature
(with an emphasison Shahndmeh-studies)and folklore-deserves praise and is a
stroke of luck for folklore matters in the EIr. Almready in earlier volumes,
Omidsalar had authoredor co-authoredfolklore sections in general articles,
besides compiling specific entriesof folkloristrelevance,and had in fact emerged
as a most prolific author in (not only) folklorist matters. Judging from his
entriescompiled since he assumedhis new responsibility, folklore in his hands
is not only assessed well, but also caredfor by an extremely competent editor
handlinga large numberof relevantentrieshimself.

Ulrich Marzolph is Professor of Islamic Studies, Georg-August-University,

Gottingen, and senior member of the editorial staff, Enzyklopadie des Marchens,
Akademie Wissenschaften, Gottingen.

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326 Marzolph
Besides evaluatingthe competenceof relevantarticles published, reviewing
folklore within the frameworkof the Elr raises a numberof questions of general
concern such as: How does the specific topic fit into the general scope of the
encyclopedia?How arethe dataarranged?Is the field concernedcoveredin a satis-
factorymanner?Are theremajorgaps in the coverage?Is the coverageof the field
in variousarticleswell balanced?Which clues are suppliedfor the readerto locate
topics of interest? Challenged by these guidelines, the present reviewer feels
slightly biased. Being a specialist in the field of Persian folklore does not neces-
sarily qualify one to make an unprejudicedevaluation of adequateor sensible
coverage in the frameworkof a general Iranistencyclopedia.On the other hand,
the personalexperience gained while editing a specializedfolklore encyclopedia,
the Enzyklopddie des Marchens (Berlin/New York: de Gruyter, vol. 1 pub-
lished in 1975; nine volumes covering the entries up to Ne;ami published in
1999), for the past decadehas made this reviewerawareof the various expecta-
tions, organizationaldifficulties and inevitable shortcomings of encyclopedic
coverage, and the need to minimizeexpectations, and above all, to accept realis-
tic standards.
Besides, lettersA-D (the point reachedby the EIr at the time of writing the
review) comprisenot even a quarterof the letters of the Latin alphabet.Yet, at
the same time, it may be assumed that probablymore than a quarterof the arti-
cles envisaged have alreadybeen published. The policy responsible for this
apparentcontradictionis explained in the prefatoryremarkto vol. mH(1989),
where it is statedthat "in the choice of titles for entries, increasingconsideration
has been given to choosing the title which comes first in alphabeticalorder,
whetherEnglish or Iranian".The idea behind this policy not being explained,'
and given the constantlack of a publicly available list of envisaged entries, how-
ever incomplete,the reviewer is at a loss as to how to evaluate this statement.
The consequencesfor items of folkloristrelevanceappearto be few, if any at all.
Moreover, at the present moment, it is quite impossible to check whether the
relatedpromise of "adequatecross-references"is being kept. One of the rare
instances, in which the English term was obviously overlooked, is the (missing)
entry for "demonology"which as a minimum ought to have referredto entries
such as *DAIVA, DEW, DEV, and DIV (entries that ought to have been com-
bined in one), let alone mentionedother demonic characters,some of which are
treatedseparately(such as AHRIMAN, AL, or BAKTAK), and collectively dis-
cussed the dualistic principlesof pre-IslamicIranianreligion living on in modem
traditionalbelief ("superstition")and folklore.
Scanning the publishedvolumes of the EIr for items of folkloristconcern, a
few statistics might serve as an introduction.About a hundredentries are of pri-
mary or secondaryrelevance to the study of folklore. These items range in
importancefrom general surveys (such as ANTHROPOLOGYor GAMES) to
minimal mentions of folkloric aspects in articles whose main concem is defined
otherwise, be it literary,historical, religious, or mythological. The articles of
relevance for folklore studies can be grouped according to ten subject areas:
Popular belief and customs (21 articles, 70 pp.); protagonists, historical and
pseudo-historical(20 articles, 44 pp.); animals, including mythical animals and

1. See now the interview with Professor Yarshaterin this issue. -Eds.

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 Folklore and Anthropology 327
birds (14 articles, 44 pp.); protagonists, general and mythical (13 articles, 33
pp.); popularliterature(11 articles, 23 pp.); games and pastime activities (9 arti-
cles, 26 pp.); prominent folklorists (5 articles; 15 pp.); general surveys (3 arti-
cles, 16 pp.); places (mountains)(2 articles, 5 pp.); food and plants (2 articles, 4
pp.). This amounts to roughly 280 pages of coverage for articles of folklorist
relevance, making up a little less than 5% of the roughly 6,000 pages published
by the EIr up to the end of 1995.
Even within a specialized topical review it is not possible to discuss all of
the articles mentionedin detail. Thus, the following survey aims at a condensed
evaluation, going into more detail only in specific cases.
In general, the representationof folklore in the EIr appears not only well
balancedand based on serious consideration,but rathergenerous in comparison
to otherencyclopediasof a similarscope (such as the Encyclopaedia of Islam).
Popular belief and customs-representing an elementarycategory of folklore-
are well treatedin extensive, detailed,and highly qualifiedcoverage (such as Ann
Betteridge'sarticles on CAQD [together with Hasan Javadi] and CARUSI). A
large numberof entries dealing primarilywith topics other than folklore contain
folkloric sections, and thus complementthe treatmentof the relevantsubject "in
Iranianfolktales" (underAZDAHA), "in Persian literatureand folklore" (under
COCK), "in Persianlegend and literature"(underBAHRAM vi. Bahramv G6r)
or "in biblical and populartraditions"(underDANIAL-E NABI). In a singular
case, the considerationto folklore matterseven goes as far as treating a topic of
general zoological concern (CAT) only from the angle of its representation"in
mythology and folklore."
As for popularliterature,the element of popularculture resulting in lasting
written documents, the dominantpracticeappearsto adhereto the conservative
Iranistattitudeof defining "popular"by way of context or narrativemotifs, rather
than through the reflection of this kind of literaturein popular oral tradition,
such as perfonnanceor everydayspeech. One has to keep in mind that Iranian
scholars (such as the recently deceasedMohammadJacfarMahjub) as well as
Westem ones (such as, prominently, William Hanaway) traditionally define
popularnarrativeliterature(adabiyat-i Camiyiinah) by content (motifs, structure)
ratherthanby context (audience,performance).Fromthis perspective, even texts
and motifs exclusively narratedin (learned)literaturemay qualify as folklore.
With this criticism referringto a majority of items (such as, in the first place,
AB, drawingon tafsir, hadith, and qisas al-anbiya for folklore relevance), it
should be mentionedthat several entries (such as BAYT, COFFEEHOUSE, or
DASTAN-SARA3I)do take into account and stress the importanceof verbal art
in actualperformance.
While many entries contain spurious remarksrelating to folklore, some
majorarticles lack any mention of their folkloric aspects. This gap is apparentin
the case of articlesof all the categories previously mentioned:In the zoological
article BEAR, mention might have been made of the popular notion of bears as
male sexual partners(Persian translation of the Arabian Nights, night 305),
occasionally even producingoffspring (Qessehi-ye Mashdi Galin Khiinom, no.
21, presentinga popularrenditionof the romanceof Hatim-i Ta'i). In the group
of articles on prominentauthors of Persian literatureand their work, folkloric
aspects of CATTAR or AVICENNA would have been desirable. cAttar is not
only one of the most widely read authors of classical Persian literature, but

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328 Marzolph
through the very popularity of his works also constitutes an important link
between the learnedsources he exploits on the one hand and popularizedoral
renditionsof these tales on the other hand.2A similar relationshipwill have to
be kept in mind for future treatmentsof authors enjoying a similar or even
greaterpopularity, such as Firdawsior Rumi. Besides, popular perception has
not only reshapedthe tales incorporatedinto classical literaturebut also generated
its own peculiarnotion about prominentauthors. Thus, Fazlollah Sobhi alrady
had publisheda book of populartales on Avicenna (Afsaneha-yeBu cAlj Sind
[Tehran1333/1954]). Above all, an almost complete lack of folklorist treatment
is painfully felt in the group of articles covering regions and tribes, such as
CARAB.iv. Arab tribes of Iran; CA?AYER;AZERBAUJAN; BAKTIARITribe
i. Ethnography;BALUCHISTAN;BOIR AHMADI i. The tribe; BRAHUI i.
ethnography; DAGESTAN i. Cultural relations with Persia. Each of these
entries would have profitedfrom a section on folklore. In this category of sur-
veys, it appearsimperativeto advise prospective authorson their responsibility
not only to focus on mattersof ethnographic/anthropological concern, but also
to take into considerationthe folklore and popular literatureof each region or
ethnic group.
The most serious drawbackin the treatmentof folklore and anthropologyin
the EIr is due not to any neglect or disregard,but is causedby the impact of the
Iranianrevolution of 1978-79. After all, folklore, in addition to its historical
perspective, is a living art, a culturalexpression affectedby developments and
changes in the surroundingculturalor political context. Given the drasticchange
of frameworkconditions in Iran, correspondingto the preparatoryphase of the
EIr, recent developmentshave resultedin major gaps and shortcomings in the
treatmentof foildore and anthropology. Brian Spooner's authoritativemodel
entry ANTHROPOLOGY,for instance, was written in 1984, at a time when
culturaland scientific contacts with Iranhad been almost completely disrupted.
While the article is perfectly explicit in defining its field of researchas well as
sketchingout majorresearchactivities before the revolution, due to the circum-
stances of the time it rathergains the quality of a historicaldocument in its own
right. The recently published booklet by Roxane Haag-Higuchi on Iranian
researchinstitutions in the humanities3documents developments in the past
years,which for the field concernedhere can be summarizedas follows: Almost
all officially governedactivities have been concentratedin the Organizationfor
the Country's Cultural Heritage(sazman-e m1rdi-efarhangt-ye ke?var), since
1372/1993 subject to the powerful Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
(vezarat-e farhang va ersad-e eslami). The institution's departmentof anthro-

2. See e. g. Boyle, J. A., "PopularLiteratureand Folklore in cAttar's Mathnavis,"

in Colloquio italo-irano sul poeta mistico FariduddincAttar,(Rome, 1978), 57-70,
discussing an early form of the folktale AT 325: The Magician and His Pupil; or the
recent book by Fateme San'ati-niya, Ma'akhez-e qesas va tamffllt-e ma,navtha-ye
cAttar-e NeishilbirT (Tehran 1369/1990)-clearly modelled on Badi'ozzaman
Foruzanfar'sstandardwork treating the sources of the tales in Jalal al-Din Rumi's
masnavis.
3. Geisteswissenschaftliche Lehr und Forschungsinstitutionen in Iran (Hamburg:
Deutsches Orient-Institut, 1994).

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 Folklore and Anthropology 329
pology (ethnography)and folklore organizedits first major meeting in 1990
(paperspublished in 1992), and since then several large-scaleinvestigations are
being pursued,partlybased on fieldwork(materialculture, the bazaar,folktales).
The quarterlyjournal Mirds-e farhangi aims at covering all fields within the
institution's purview. As for practicalconcerns, the development results in a
clear preferencefor issues relatingto the Islamic period;any researchpresumably
linked with non-Islamicelements is discouraged.
This policy amountsto a severe obstacle to the furtherexistence of foildore
as well as the pursuit of folklore researchin Iranianstudies. Folklore, popular
customs and beliefs, as well as popular literatureare so often rooted in pre-
Islamic times and-while not necessarily elaborating elements contradicting
Islamic tradition-might well contain or even wholly consist of elements whose
origin is not linked with Islam. In this respect, it is also revealing that not a
single one of the folklore entries in the EIr drawson the huge body of material
stored in the folklore archives originally collected by the late Abol-Qasem
ENJAVI?IRAZI(deceasedin late 1993) which in the years after the revolution
have surviveddespite imminentthreatof neglect and (at least partial)eradication
as partof the state radio institution's departmentof research.Classified foildore
entries in the EIr rely almost exclusively on data available in printed publica-
tions, one of the most often quotedbeing EbrahimShakurzada'sclassic study.4
Before concluding, a cursorybrowsing through the entries of folklore rele-
vance in alphabeticalorderwill serve as a catalyst for some more remarksof
generalconcern.
AB as the essential element enabling life to exist, justly constitutes the
EIr's first entry. In the body of the article, as well as in other articles, basic folk-
lore literatureis at times underrepresented.Without intending to cite a complete
supplemental bibliography, some of the following references to the
Enzyklopddie des Marchens (henceforthEM) as well as to specialized secon-
dary literaturemight be useful. Here, while Muslim traditionis explored in some
detail, it might have been useful to presentpopularnotions such as the "waterof
life" (AB-I HAYAT) in its wider Oriental and international context, which
appears to be closely linked with the legend of Alexander (Pseudo-
Callisthenes).s The notion of water in the context of the motif of sex change
(Thompson, Motif-Index [henceforth:Mot.] D 10), not mentioned, figures
prominentlyin a numberof Iranian(also Pashto and Baluch) folktales.6
While a historicalentry such as CABBAS I consciously mentions the ruler's
topical appearancein folktales (Mot. P 14.19: King goes in disguise at night to
observe his subjects), the specialized articles on AZADA (an 18-line entry) and

4. CAqdyed va rosam-e mardom-e Khorisdln (Tehran, 1346/1967; revised and

enlarged edition Tehran 1363/1984).
5. See C. Lecouteux, "Lebenswasser," in EM 8 (1996), 838-41; W. Fauth,
"Chadir,"ibid. 2 (1979), 1206-10.
6. See M. Sato, "Geschlechtswechsel," in EM 5 (1987), 1138-42, and recently M.
Mills, "It's about Time-Or Is It'?:Four Stories of/in Transformation," in Fields of
Folklore, Essays in honor of Kenneth S. Goldstein (Bloomington, 1995), 184-97.

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330 Marzolph
BAHRAM vi. ignore their folkloric aspects. M. V. Fontana's book7 was proba-
bly not yet available at the time the articles were conceived;on the other hand,
both authors ought to have been conscious of the famous anecdoteof Bahram
nailing a deer's foot to its ear with a single arrow,which is prominentin Iranian
as well as world folklore (Mot. N 621: Luckyshot with arrow-foot and ear of
deer).8
Jalal AL-E-AHMAD's essays have recently been edited (by his brother
Shams);9the second volume contains a section on popularliteraturecomprising
six of the author'srelevantessays.
My own entry BOHLULhas meanwhilebeen supplementedby my article,'0
containing a survey of the character'sdevelopment in contemporarypopular
belief and literatureof Iran,especially the KurdishShicite grouping of the ahl-e
haqq, for whom Bohlul representsan incarnationof the divine. Moreover, it
may be noted that since the revolution, Bohlul has come to substitute the for-
merly extremelypopularcharacterof Molla Nasroddin,jokes on whom underthe
new moral standardsmight be understoodas offensive towards the clergy and
thus against the law.
Though a focus on folklore of the Iranianculturalareais perfectly justifi-
able, in many cases an awarenessof the wider folkloricrelevanceof certain items
might be useful. In this respect, several articles on animals in folklore might be
supplementedby relevantentries in the EM."
Only very few entriesof folklorist relevanceseem utterly misguided. A sad
case in point is the article tEHEL TUTI (by G.-H. Yusofi), which is conceived
purely from a literary point of view. Though the author is conscious of the
work's literarytradition,he neglects the fact that the Cehel TCtW, constituting
the Tiitf-ndma'spopularoffspring,has been distributedin lithograph"chapbook"
editions since the first half of the 19thcenturyand was most likely not compiled
beforethe Qajarperiod.'2

7. La Leggenda di BahraimGiir e Aziada,Materiale per la storia di una tipologia

figurativa dalle origini al XIV secolo (Naples, 1986).
8. See 0. Spies, "Drei arabische Lugengeschichten," in Die islamische Geschichte
zwischen Mittelalter und Neuzeit, Festschrift fur H. R. Roemer (Beirut, 1979), 583-
90; U. Marzolph, Arabia ridens, Die humoristische Kurzprosa der fruhen
Abbasidenzeit im internationalen Traditionsgeflecht, Wiesbaden 1994, vol. 2, no.
135; idem, "BahramGiir's spectacular marksmanship and the art of illustration in
Persian lithographedbooks," in Festschrift Edmund Bosworth (in press).
9. Under the title Adab va honar-e emruiz-eirain(Tehran 1373/1994).
10. "Der Weise Narr Buhlal in den modernen Volksliteraturen der islamischen
Lander,"in Fabula 28 (1987): 72-89.
11. For AZDAHA see L. Rohrich,"Drache, Drachenkampf, Drachentoter," in EM 3
(1981), 787-820; for BUF see N. Henkel, "Eule," in EM 4 (1984), 531-38; for
BUZINA see R. and S. Schenda, "Affe," in EM 1 (1977), 138-46; for CAMELsee S.
Schmidtke, "Kamel," in EM 7 (1993), 908-15; for CAT see I. Roschmann-
Steltenkamp, "Katze," in EM 7 (1993), 1099-1109; for COCKsee K. Rodin, "Hahn,
Huhn," in EM 6 (1990), 370-76.
12. See H. A. Barb, Naurius-Blatter, Ein Neujahrsgeschenk fur Freunde
morgenlandischen Wissens und Schriftenthums (Vienna, 1848), 49-108; U.

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 Folklore and Anthropology 331
Other essential gaps are to be noted in DAVAL-PA(Y) (by H. Aclam),
which overlooks F. Meier's essay "Das Volk der Riemenbeinler,"'13where a large
numberof classical and Islamic sources is discussed, far surpassingthe scope of
the article; or in DALQAK (by F. Gaffary),which discusses only the amusing
and entertainingquality of courtjesters without consideringtheir role as admon-
ishers (probablyrepresentedmoredirectlyby theirEuropeancounterparts,as well
as the Islamic archetypeof the wise fool).
The division of the treatmentof the major demon characterhas alreadybeen
mentioned. While the separateentry for *DAIVA (by C. Herrenschmidtand J.
Kellens) might be justified as treating the general Indo-Iranianbackground,the
doublingof DEW and DIV appearsto result from an unsatisfactorytreatmentof
centralfolklore issues in the formerentry. None of the three entries mentions the
important taboo against striking a monster twice (because the second blow
resuscitates;Mot. C 742), which has been extensively discussed in anotherbril-
liant essay by F. Meier."4
There is only one areaof folkloric relevancewhich to the reviewer's taste
appearsunderrepresented in virtua-llyall of the articles examined. This concems
visual folk art, especially in its relevance to the representationof items from
popularliteratureand belief. After all, popular traditionand beliefs are not only
transmittedby verbalexpression or by customs. The image as a frozen represen-
tation of a complex realityof whateverpopularbackgroundhas to be taken into
account as a vehicle of transmissionfor all aspects of traditionalculture. Popular
imagery (French imagerie populaire) has found its expression in such art forms
as carpet-weavingandreverse painting on glass as well as in colored tile work,
in sculpture,decoration,drawing,printing,and oil-painting,and above all in so-
called "coffee-housepainting"(naqqdshT-yiqahve-kh?ine3i). Its topics include
religious scenes from ta ziyah literatureas well as mythical ones from the
Shahnameh, love scenes from Nezami's epics, and detailedrepresentationsof
dragons,demons, or scenes of the netherworld.When M. L. Swietochowski's
highly competenttreatmentof DRAWING ends with the statementthat "artists
of the 19thand 20th centuriescontinuedto draw subjectsevolved in the 15-17th
centuries,"this statementbespeaks a traditionalarthistorian's point of view and
neglects the populardimensionof the sketcheddevelopment.As far as folklore is
concerned,the Qajarperiodwas responsible for popularizinga large numberof
concepts thatbefore had belonged predominantlyto elite literature.At the end of
the twentieth century, the repercuissionsof this developmentstill contribute to
the perceptionof folklore and will last well into the next millennium.'5

Marzolph, Die Vierzig Papageien, Das persische Volksbuch cehel Tuti (Walldorf
1979).
13. In Festschrift W. Eilers (Wiesbaden, 1967), 341-67.
14. "Orientalische Belege fur das Motiv 'Nur einmal zuschlagen'," in Me'langes
d'Islamologie. Festschrift A. Abel (Leiden, 1974), 207-23, and also in idem,
Bausteine, vol. 2 (Istanbul, 1992), 536-63.
15. Bibliographical items that might be taken into consideration for this aspect of
folklore include the following, to name but a few: J. Vinchon, "L'imagerie populaire
persane," in Revue des Arts Asiatiques vol. 2, no. 4 (1925): 3-9; H. Masse,
"L'imagerie populaire de l'Iran," in Arts asiatiques 7 (1960): 163-78; K.

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332 Marzolph
In conclusion, criticism of aspects of content or emphasis pales into insig-
nificance before the achievementsof the EIr. Since no general survey or hand-
book on Iranianfolklore is available, otherthan a numberof regional or topical
studies,relevantdata necessaryfor the compilation of articles have to be culled
from a variety of available publications. In this respect the E!r, its editorial
team, as well as its contributors,deservesincere admiration,since most articles
constitute,or at least include, original pieces of primaryresearch.True, the use
of unpublisheddataavailablein Iranwould have often contributedfurtherdetails,
but encyclopedic work primarily serves to sum up previous knowledge. To
achieve this goal, more than any other research,it has to keep within realistic
expectationsand manageablebounds.

Schlamminger and P. L. Wilson, Weaver of Tales, Persian Picture Rugs (Munich

1980); P. Tanavoli, Qiiltchehei-ye tasvTri-ye Iran (Tehran, 1368/1989); H. Seif,
Naqqashi-ye qahve-khane'r,3d. ed. (Tehran, 1369/1990); idem, Naqqashi-ye posht-e
shtshe (Tehran, 1371/1992).

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