A Comparative Study of the Narrative of “Joseph” in Holy Texts, Persian Literature and Iranian Miniature Painting

Literary-artistic texts are better known and decoded in the context of their formation. Codes of artwork are seriously affected by the semantic roots from which the work develops. That is why a text in different periods has different implications. The story of Joseph is one of the stories that has been considered in the sacred texts of the Torah and the Qur'an, art, literature and mysticism of various eras, and over the years, artists, poets, and moviemakers have paid much attention to it.
Joseph's narrative has been expressed in a special way in each period in accordance with the paradigm of time and with the effects that the author has had on the narration in the context of its formation, and in recreating the work, different sub-narratives have been used in creating the text, and it has considered the use of the story, the theme or the representation of a sub-narrative of a section of the narrative in various arts and media.This study intends to examine Joseph's narrative in an intertextual manner in literary, artistic and religious texts, as well as cultural, social and historical influences, the author's personal life in narration, and myth analysis in different periods of creation, and the expression manner in each media.
In the narrations mentioned from the story of Joseph in different texts, the various relations of the texts in terms of form and meaning are mentioned, which is called intertextuality. But what is considered today in the field of literary criticism and theories as intertextuality, is not simply the expression of the relationship between texts. Intertextuality expresses the relationship and intersection of texts in different cultures throughout the history of human life, which are influenced by each other due to the nature of social life and cultural proportions and interactions. The creation of new texts with new approaches exposes them to the "reading" of other generations, and in fact it is the intersection and connection of texts that leads to their evolution.
Narratives on art, literature and love have made a great contribution in the relationship between culture and the depth of society and people, as well as the fusion of different nations and cultures with each other, and love in this narrative, as a comprehensive theme for creating art and literature and creating interaction between the dominant culture of the time and the people, is of interest. Joseph's story has a religious origin and is introduced in the holy books of Judaism and Islam, and has since been widely discussed in religious and mystical interpretations, as well as art and literature. This research aims to: 1- Identify the considered elements and the components used in Joseph's narrative in different periods of recreating the narrative in the media and used in that time and culture (literature and visual arts) and to 2- Identify the similarities and differences of this narrative in different literary, artistic and sacred texts, studies the intertextuality of this narrative.
It seeks to answer the following questions: 1- How have the context of time, community culture and the type of creator's attitude influenced how the narrative is presented in the context and the use of the sub-narratives? 2. What are the similarities and differences of this narrative in different literary, artistic and sacred texts? The research method is descriptive-analytical with a comparative approach and the collection of materials is documentary. In data analysis, the use of narrative and sub-narratives in each medium were examined separately and then matched with each other.
This research aims to discover the changes and differences in the narratives of Joseph and the pattern of narrative of Joseph in different times, and to look at this romantic myth in the cultural context of the time of recreation. Then, the intertextuality method is used to analyze the myths and to match the texts with each other. In the analysis method, first the religious texts and their processing method are examined according to the narration, and then these processing methods, in each of the sources of Torah, Qur'an, Haft Awrang, Behzad's drawing and Farshchian's paintings, are analyzed and matched.
The results show that the use of sub-narratives, changes in narrative style at different times, the effects of society on narration at different times, the influence of the author and the pattern of time on the effect and its impact on society make it widely used in the arts, especially in the contemporary arts. The expression of this narrative and the use of sub-narratives have varied over time and according to socio-cultural requirements. While emphasizing the essence of the story (Qur'an and Torah ), artists have considered factors such  as the interaction between society and myth, change in society and culture and its impact on the artist's perspective, and have incorporated various sub-narratives into each art form.