The Persian Literary Riddle: Marginal Notes and Critical Remarks on a Recent Study

The publication of a book on the Persian literary riddle (A.A. Seyed-Gohrab, Courtly Riddles. Enigmatic Embellishments in Early Persian Poetry, Amsterdam & West Lafayette -Indiana USA, Rozenberg Publishers & Purdue University Press, 2008, 256 pp., ISBN 987 90 5170 858 5) offers the opportunity for a critical review of this field of studies. Starting from a re-reading of the sources on this topic, in the first paragraph of the review article (Definition of the subject of study, pp. 76-78) a critical definition of ‘riddle’ in Persian classical literature, in its different meanings, is provided. A problem not well dealt with in the book is that of the relationship between riddle and metaphor; therefore, the second paragraph of the review article (Riddle and metaphor, pp. 78-79) is devoted to this topic, on the basis of Aristotle’s definition of ‘enigma’ (Poetics, 22.I). Another paragraph is devoted to the study of the constructive technique of riddles (Definition of ‘riddle’: its descriptive technique, pp. 79-81), based on an important passage of the the Kaššāf-e eṣṭelāḥāt al-fonun by Tahānavi, not quoted by the Author of the book in question. Only the last part of the review article is devoted to the review of the book (pp. 81-85).