Comparison of Masalek Al-Mohsenin and Travel Diary of Ebrahim Beyg from the Point of View of Critical Analysis with a Social Approach

Criticizing social relations and portraying the conditions and how society passes through historical crises is one of the most important uses of literature. The travelogue is the story of objective or subjective observations of the author, who also reviews various social aspects during the narration. The travelogues of Ebrahim Beyg and Masalek Al-Mohsenin are among these books that were published some time before the constitutional revolution. And it has had a significant impact on the popular movement during the revolution. The writers' effort to inform people and adapt modernity to Iran's traditional culture has turned into an ideological and reformist movement. This article With the aim of discovering social and critical themes, it deals with the content and comparison of the two mentioned works from the perspective of the sociology of literature. The most important outcomes of the research is that thinkers such as Talebof and Maraghei are trying to adapt a new form of modernity to Iranian and Islamic society and culture. In this regard, they have described the current situation first and, then, the pathology of that situation, the ways out of that situation, and drawing the desired situation is provided.
Introduction:
The reason for reviewing and dealing with the important developments of the literary system of this historical and social period is its amazing effect in the transformation of the history of modern social ideas in contemporary Iran. Certainly, social realities could be better understood through the study of texts with social and critical themes, at a certain point, than through historical research, which usually has a linear course. Focusing on the critical approach of these texts has been done with the aim of showing the developments, movements and social origin in modern Persian literature, as understood and presented by the intellectuals of this historical period. The content of the texts of this period, which emerged as a result of social events and in the context of society's needs, unlike the past tradition of Persian literature, emphasizes more on the content instead of the form, and finds the prose form a more suitable tool for presenting various social issues in order to better describe and represent social issues and criticize the existing conditions, consequently. Evidences of social criticism and the aggressive view of intellectuals or reformers of the constitutional period can be clearly found in works such as Ibrahim Beig's travelogue and Masalek Al-Mohsenin as symbols of modernism. Social events during the constitutional period affected the literary structure, especially in prose writing. Social and literary transformations had a mutual effect on each other and created a literature that both in form and content served to create social-critical and patriotic works and reflected social and political changes. The traditional literary structure of Iran was based on poetry, and due to attention to aesthetic requirements and literary arrays, if an author wrote prose, even with historical and social issues, he would mix it with poetry to please the audience. An accordance with what was mentioned, the following questions are formulated;
-Have these two works in the constitutional period been able to reflect the social and political developments to some extent?
-What are the political, social and cultural realities hidden in these two works?
-Is it possible to observe critical discourse in the works of the constitutional period?
Methodology:
The method of date collection in this research, like other literary researches, has been done using common documentary methods and descriptive and analytical methods. Thematic analysis is also used as a new method and approach in examining the contents of travelogues to show its effect on intellectual developments before the constitution.
Results and Discussion:
The literature of every era is the language of social and intellectual developments of every society. The most efficient way to know the thoughts and beliefs of any society is to research the literature of that society. Many writers and thinkers of the society have presented their critical opinions and thoughts to the society in the form of stories and travelogues. Since most of the prose texts of the constitutional period were written based on historical and social developments, it has taken a significant part of social critical literature. What makes literature critical is the feature that language forms are not freely chosen, but the conditions of choice such as social contracts, dominant discourse in society, background knowledge of the speaker or author, historical conditions, social and cultural knowledge, language forms in texts. They influence literature. These conditions are determined by ideology, society and discourse, and the interpretation and analysis of texts is in the process of understanding roles, meanings and social interactions. Because social interaction is based on the assumption that the relationship between people and society is not random and arbitrary, but institutionally determined. One of the main characteristics and goals of Maraghei and Talebof is to enlighten and present a perspective in the field of showing the behavioral and social systems of the Asr Qajar society. Equalization and accurate reflection of the social, belief and value conditions of the society in these texts is the basis of the authors' work. Interaction and familiarity with the West made Iranian people aware of many of their social and individual rights limited by the government. The intellectuals and elites of the society thought of finding a solution, and people like Mirzamalkam Khan, Talebof, Maraghei, Mirzahasan Roshdieh, Akhundzadeh and others were able to build the foundations of a kind of people-centered government in the society, and with their familiarity and knowledge of other cultures and civilizations, their writings are clear. become a part of people's minds, and with their efforts, they were able to promote words such as universal education, law, justice, nation, freedom, homeland in its new meaning, which was one of the constitutional requirements, and paved the way for the elites after them, people like Dehkhoda and pave the spring in the next stages of reforms.
Conclusion:
These two travelogues in the form of social novels reflect the social atmosphere of the constitutional era (The Qajar era). The authors of these two works, who were aware of the necessity of social changes in Iran with a critical view, first criticized social relations. In this context, they have drawn the current situation, then the pathology of that situation, and then the way out of that situation and finally drawing the desired situation. The creation of these works has been done with the aim of promoting, consolidating and adapting the ideas of the advanced societies of the West, and of course, awareness and recognition of the spiritual and religious beliefs of the Iranian people. The effort of Talebov and Maraghei ends with this common conclusion, that reforming the government system of a country is not possible except by changing the social system and that people are the product of their social environment. Talebof and Maraghei were the result of communication between Iranian and Russian intellectuals.These intellectuals, especially Maraghei, criticized social issues, such as injustice, ignorance and superstitions, in the society of that day in Iran. Maragheh's criticism covers all political, social and cultural aspects of Iran. In presenting Iranian society, he always refers to ignorance and superstitions, disorder, disorganization, bribery, blind prejudices, individual expediency, lies, tricks, deception, tyranny and ignorance of the masses. In both narratives, they paid attention to the necessity of Iranians' awakening and the necessity of fundamental changes and a way out of the existing situation, and recklessly criticized the cause of backwardness and helplessness caused by traditional ideas and blind prejudices. By writing imaginary travelogues, they started a new and unprecedented movement. They founded against tyranny and its consequences, which included all kinds of social failures. Talebof and Maraghei shared belief and effort in order to resolve the conflict between modernity and religious traditions is worth mentioning. Both authors presented the idea of modernism and adaptation of modernity in the adaptation and cover of religion. And they believed that the only way to achieve modernity is to tell Muslims that Islam is not limited to only one religion, but has a broad structure that encompasses all social affairs.