University of Isfahan Literary Arts 20088027 Articles in Press 2026 04 15 Analyzing the Function of Hyperbole in the Believability of the Epic World Analyzing the Function of Hyperbole in the Believability of the Epic World 59 78 30353 10.22108/liar.2026.148302.2569 FA Hossein Familian Souraki Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran. Journal Article 2026 02 08 In the epic genre, hyperbole is far more than an ornamental rhetorical device; it constitutes the foundational ‘governing logic’ of the textual universe, representing reality not as it ‘is’, but as it ‘ought to be’. However, a fundamental question arises: how can hyperbole, despite transgressing the boundaries of physical reality, serve as the primary catalyst for ‘verisimilitude’ and the construction of a ‘superior realism’ within the heroic world, rather than evoking a sense of falsehood? Employing a descriptive-analytical approach, the present study explores the ontological function of this device in fostering the believability of the heroic realm by examining six verse epics: Shahnameh, Garshasp-nameh, Faramarz-nameh, Bahman-nameh, Kush-nameh, and Sam-nameh. The findings reveal that epic poets, in an effort to bridge the chasm between ‘constrained standard language’ and the ‘unbounded grandeur of the hero’, utilized hyperbole as a tool to craft ‘hyper-space’ and ‘cosmic sympathy’. Data analysis across four dimensions—‘geography and quantity’, ‘atmosphere and nature’, ‘physiology and time’, and ‘sound and resonance’—demonstrates that hyperbole, by suspending the causal laws of the material world, enables the ‘will’ to dominate ‘matter’. This mechanism detaches the audience from ‘linear and chronological time’ and transports them into ‘epic time’—a sacred dimension where supernatural actions are accepted not as fabrications, but as manifestations of ‘superior realism’ and ‘emotional sincerity’. Consequently, the verisimilitude of the epic is contingent upon the internal coherence of this hyperbolic system; its removal would reduce the text to a mere historical chronicle, devoid of its essential national spirit. In the epic genre, hyperbole is far more than an ornamental rhetorical device; it constitutes the foundational ‘governing logic’ of the textual universe, representing reality not as it ‘is’, but as it ‘ought to be’. However, a fundamental question arises: how can hyperbole, despite transgressing the boundaries of physical reality, serve as the primary catalyst for ‘verisimilitude’ and the construction of a ‘superior realism’ within the heroic world, rather than evoking a sense of falsehood? Employing a descriptive-analytical approach, the present study explores the ontological function of this device in fostering the believability of the heroic realm by examining six verse epics: Shahnameh, Garshasp-nameh, Faramarz-nameh, Bahman-nameh, Kush-nameh, and Sam-nameh. The findings reveal that epic poets, in an effort to bridge the chasm between ‘constrained standard language’ and the ‘unbounded grandeur of the hero’, utilized hyperbole as a tool to craft ‘hyper-space’ and ‘cosmic sympathy’. Data analysis across four dimensions—‘geography and quantity’, ‘atmosphere and nature’, ‘physiology and time’, and ‘sound and resonance’—demonstrates that hyperbole, by suspending the causal laws of the material world, enables the ‘will’ to dominate ‘matter’. This mechanism detaches the audience from ‘linear and chronological time’ and transports them into ‘epic time’—a sacred dimension where supernatural actions are accepted not as fabrications, but as manifestations of ‘superior realism’ and ‘emotional sincerity’. Consequently, the verisimilitude of the epic is contingent upon the internal coherence of this hyperbolic system; its removal would reduce the text to a mere historical chronicle, devoid of its essential national spirit.

https://liar.ui.ac.ir/article_30353_63e172a9ddf924b6faf86d6cd3a1e203.pdf