Online Archive of University of Virginia Scholarship
Rumi's Storytelling in The Masnavi toward the Journey of Contentment and Mental Well-being711 views
Author
Tahvildar Akbari, Tirajeh, Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia
Advisors
Hueckstedt, Robert, AS-MidEast & SAsia Lang & Cult, University of Virginia
Abstract
Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Balkhī, known as Rumi in the West, is a Persian poet, Sufi mystic, Islamic scholar, and spiritual teacher of the 13th century. The translation of Coleman Barks, in 1995, has made Rumi’s poems the best-selling foreign poetry in the U.S. Today, Rumi’s poems appear on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages daily. To investigate the reason that has kept Rumi’s words alive after centuries, this thesis looks closely at the stories of The Masnavi and the effect of Rumi’s storytelling approach on readers’ contentment and mental wellbeing. To this end, the author illustrates the compatibility between Rumi’s elements of mysticism, conveyed in stories of the Masnavi, and psychotherapy, specifically the mindfulness-based therapies.
Degree
MA (Master of Arts)
Keywords
Rumi; The Masnavi; storytelling; mysticism ; mindfulness; mental wellness
Tahvildar Akbari, Tirajeh. Rumi's Storytelling in The Masnavi toward the Journey of Contentment and Mental Well-being. University of Virginia, Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, MA (Master of Arts), 2021-05-17, https://doi.org/10.18130/rh9v-zv72.
