“Aesthetics of Ghazals of Hafez”

The 326^th lecture of Hafez Studies and Chair of Hafez Studies  was given by Dr Saeed Hesampour entitled, ” Aesthetics of Ghazals of Hafez” in Ghazal Auditorium on Sunday 24 Shahrivar, 1398 (Sept. 15, 2019). This lecture was supported by Fars Office of Islamic Culture and Guidance and Shiraz University Research Center for Language and Literature. In his talk, Dr Hesampour discussed the magical charm of beautiful imagery of ghazals of Hafez. He stated that the roots of his aesthetic  lies in the need of his readers for listening to narratives , suspense , creation of mythical characters, rebellion against existence, the universe and the oppressors. Dr Hesampour added that variety is one of the reasons for the pleasure that readers get from Hafez

“A Comparative Study of Musical Aspects of Poetry of Hafez and its Translations”

The 325^th lecture of Hafez Studies and Chair of Hafez Studies was given by Mr Payam Derakhshanfard entitled, “A Comparative Study of Musical Aspects of Poetry of Hafez and its Translations” in Ghazal Auditorium on Sunday 24 Shahrivar, 1398 (July 21, 2019).First, Dr Farideh Pourgiv, director of international office of Hafez Studies gave a short talk on translations of Hafez. Then Mr Payam Derakhshanfard talked about music in Ghazals of Hafez and their translations. He mentioned that there are more than a hundred translations of Hafez since the first one that was published in the eighteenth century. He argued that Hafez was quite well versed in music and it is shown in his poetry. Classifying Hafez poems according to rhythm and rhyme, he stated that the musical notes are the best tool to compare English translations of Hafez to the original poems.

“Memorial for the late Hashem Javid”

This session was devoted to the late Hashem Javid convened with a large group of professors and his family in the first year after his death on Khordad 29, 1398 (June 19, 2019) in Chamran Salon at Shiraz University. First Dr Kavoos Hasanli, the director of Hafez Studies Center and Chair of Hafez Studies praised Hashem Javid and stated that he was one of the invaluable researchers in Shiraz. The next speaker was Dr Reza Rastegari, a postdoc research of the Chair of Hafez Studies. He gave a short biography of Javid’s life and works and introduced his poetry, published essays, Hafez according to Javid and a correction of Hafez in collaboration with Bahedin Khoramshahi. Ms. Ladan Chalak, a relative of the late Hashem Javid, was the last speaker who praised his integrity and commitment to art.

 “Stylistics of Corpus Linguistics and its Usage in the Poetry of Hafez”

This lecture entitled ” Stylistics of Corpus Linguistics and its Usage in the Poetry of Hafez” was given by Dr Saeed Moloodi, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, Shiraz University at Chamran Salon on Tuesday,  Khordad 28, 1398 (June 18, 2019). First, Dr Hasanli, the director of Hafez Studies Center and Chair of Hafez Studies introduced Dr Moloodi and also mentioned that Mr. Khodaparasti, previous staff of the French department and the linguistics group of Shiraz University as the forerunners of corpus of Persian language. He also stated that new technologies give better options in searching the corpus that are very important in literary and linguistic studies. Dr Moloodi gave a short history of corpus linguistics and its classifications. He stated that the corpus of Hafez and contemporary poets of his time must be gathered to be analyzed for semantics, syntax and grammar.

 “Reconsidering the Translation by Paul Smith”

First Dr Hasanli, the director of Hafez Studies Center and Chair of Hafez Studies introduced Dr Zahra Taheri, the Persian Studies Program Convener, and Lecturer in Persian Language and literature in the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, Australian National University. Dr Taheri gave a detailed account of Paul Smith’s life and works. She said that in order to understand Smith’s knowledge of Hafez and his poetry, one must find out how he looks at Hafez and his poetry; which aspect of Hafez he is aware of and which aspect he has neglected. She stated that Paul Smith was a follower of Meher Baba and found out about Hafez through reading Meher Baba’s essays. Dr Taheri mentioned that Smith is a poet himself and he collected the published translations and studied them rather than learning Farsi. Smith starts translating Hafez into English in 1971 and over the next 12 years, he translates 791 poems. He has also written 30 books, essays, drama, radio stories and books for children. He has also written a novel in three volumes based on the life of Hafez.

“A Critique of a book by Dr Shafiei Kadkani, This Elixir of Existence (In Kimiya-ye Hasti)”

This session was convened on Sunday Farvardin 25, 1398 (14 April, 2019)  at Hafez Salon in Shiraz.  First Dr Hasanli, the director of Hafez Studies Center and Chair of Hafez Studies stated that this book was introduced in the opening ceremony of the 22^nd Hafez Memorial day (11 July 2018). He mentioned that this 3 volume book of over 1300 pages was published by Sokhan in 2018. Dr Hasanli  said that there are some repetitive sections in these 3 volumes but there some interesting sections  on Hafez. Dr Nasrollah Emami, the retired professor of Persian literature from Chamran University gave a critique of the book, He said that the first volume was gathered by Valiollah Doroodian and did not gain a favorable reception since he had added some parts on his own discretion. Hence Dr Shafiei Kadakni  published an edited version of this first one and finally it was published in three volumes. He said that volume one is devoted to the poetics of Hafez the second volume is on philological aspects of poetry of Hafez and the third volume is based on Kadkani’s lectures for his course on Hafez. The third volume was written with the collaboration of his students. Dr Manijeh Abdolahi, associate professor of Persian language & literature at Shiraz Medical School stated that this three volume book does not follow academic method and there is no order in what has been written; hence it is not of any use to those who are after organized and consistent research.

“Seminar on the late Professor Salim Neisari’s Hafez oeuvre”

Hafez Studies Center and Chair of Hafez Studies collaborating with Fars Office of Islamic Culture and Guidance and Shiraz University Center for Persian Language and Literature Research  on the occasion of the 40^th day of the passing of the late Salim Neisari  convened a seminar  on Saturday Esfand 4, 1397 (Feb. 23, 2019) in Montazeri Salon at Shiraz University. After recitation of The Qur’an and Mr Shamsodini’s documentary on Professor Neisari, Dr Hasanli, the director of Hafez Studies Center and Chair of Hafez Studies, gave a brief account of his academic activities in Shiraz University in 1955. He stated that Salim Neisari was a well-known scholar and professor of Persian language and literature who was very active in the domain of teaching Persian language and research on Hafez. Then a panel consisting of Dr Seyed Mohammad Hadi Hosseini, Dr Khosro Ghasemian and Dr Madineh Karami  discussed different aspects of Professor Neisari academic and research activities.

“Seminar on Encyclopedia of Hafez and Hafez Studies by Bahaedin Khorramshahi”

This seminar was convened on Saturday 8 Dey 1397 (29 Dec. 2018) in Shahid Montazeri Salon at Shiraz University. Mr. Mansur Paimard, Dr Kavoos Hasanli, Dr Reza Rastegari, and Dr Farzaneh Moinee discussed this encyclopedia. First Dr Hasanli pointed to two auspicious events of publication of two books and a sad one of the passing of Mr Hashem Javid, a Hafez scholar and the writer of Hafez according to Javid. He stated that Hafez Studies Center collaborated with the encyclopedia and 270 entries were written by Shirazi researchers. Mr Paimard, director of Society of Friends of Hafez stated that this encyclopedia was a necessary for research on Hafez though some entries are missing and some are repetitive. Next Dr Rastegari said that work on the encyclopedia was started 3 years ago. Since the writers were not in contact with each other, there are some repetiotions. Dr Moinee praised the variety of topics of the encyclopedia though there are  some ambiguities in the entries.