Abstract
This article, with a descriptive-analytical method and with the aim of conducting a thematic-qualitative ethnographic analysis, seeks to study the features that are in the folklore of the Balochi people. Therefore, by describing, classifying, and extracting the features of these works, their research capacities have been evaluated in terms of theoretical and methodological aspects. Based on the findings, two categories of works can be identified in this area; first, works in which only Balochi folklore texts are collected; second, the works that scholars have attempted to provide interpretations of. These features have enriched the research capacity of these works. These capacities are grouped in four main categories as: accurate descriptions and interpretive analysis; attention to the factors and contexts of the formation of the subjects under study; looking at issues as a part of an overall mechanism in culture; the classification and presentation of categories and semantic patterns. Therefore, based on the anthropological insight, a kind of perspective was drawn that can be used to gain a deeper understanding of the mental and intellectual structures of the creators of Balochi folklore.
Research background
Various authors with different scientific specialties have studied and written about the field of folklore of the Balochi people. Some of them, for example, Jahandideh (1390), Bausani (1971), Iftikharzadeh (1388), and Baloch researchers have a literary approach and mainly focus on some important linguistic aspects such as grammar, syntax, or pronouns. Some other foreign scholars such as Leech (1838), Burton (1990) or Dames (1905), who have been sent as missionaries to the Balochistan region, have a more orientalist approach. In general, all of these works have been used as the literary background of the research in order to open a way to a kind of anthropological perspective for a better study of this field.
Research aims and questions
This study aims to answer the following questions: what are the characteristics of the existing works in the field of popular literature in Balochistan? And how can one move towards an anthropological perspective by studying the popular literature of the Balochi people? Accordingly, in this study, first, the characteristics of the works were examined, which are more accessible in libraries than other works in the field of Balochi folk. Then, it was considered how to use these works to move towards a kind of anthropological perspective in the field of folklore studies in Balochistan.
Discussion
In the first part of the research, the main features of Balochistan folklore texts were categorized; in the second part, an attempt was made to draw a kind of anthropological perspective by using the characteristics of these works, which will help to better understand the works. The main categories obtained from the data are: having accurate descriptions and performing interpretive analysis; attention to the factors and contexts of formation of the subjects under study; attention to issues as part of a general mechanism in culture; classification and presentation of semantic categories and patterns. These categories show that by adopting and applying anthropological interpretive-qualitative approaches in the field of folklore of Balochi people, it is possible to better identify the original views and indigenous logic of the Baloch community. Folklore originates from the traditions of the people of each region and it is passed on to future generations through these traditions. In the meantime, what is produced and reproduced are many concepts and ideas that have found no other way for expression.
Conclusion
In general, if the territory of Balochistan folklore is approached from an interpretive-qualitative point of view, the indigenous rationality of Baloch popular literature will be properly understood. The studies that have been done so far, due to their methodological and theoretical capacities, will be able to answer the questions that are necessary for the folklore of Balochistan. Employing a kind of interpretive and indigenous methodology that is able to create dialectical relations and understand the diversity of mental world of the Baloch people is the most appropriate way to understand the folklore works of this region. Therefore, in a world where diverse ideas and thoughts do not always have a chance to be understood, grasping these concepts through such a strategy will contribute to Baluchi culture and its holders in a better and more effective way.
References
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