An Examination of Hafiz’s Lyrics from the Perspective of Critical Aesthetics (Frankfurt School)

Hafiz is among the few Persian poets who transcended the social determinism of the eighth century (on the lunar calendar). Disentangling himself from the extreme constraining order of his time, he began to critically analyze the social structure as represented in varied forms in poetic structures.  In this regard, this paper starts with a brief introduction of critical aesthetics as an achievement of Frankfurt school first form in Germany. It then examines Hafiz’s lyrics in terms of emotion, imagery and discourse based of the criteria propounded by Frankfurt school.
Based on the critical theory, an artist who critiques the hegemonic values of no authentic worth for the sole purpose of exalting the societal culture above what is perceptibly rampant is a true artist.  In this theory, literary and artistic works do not exalt the entrenched order, but rather subject it to rigorous scrutiny and render it accountable. If societies strive hard to mold everything into an unbreakable monolith, authentic literary works endeavor hard to break the mold into pieces.  This feature frees a literary work from power relations and forms a stronger bond with the society at large. 
 The paper shows that Hafiz, using both positive and negative perspectives in the realm of emotion which constitute his motives for his poems, has successfully tried to question the “entrenched order”.  The paper further aims to uncover Hafiz’s negative perspective in imagery, literary discourse and lyrics, and reveal his approach towards them.  The results of this research indicate that while highlighting certain thoughts and criticizing the static artistic and social patterns, Hafiz clearly distances himself from the status quo. Through his insinuating languaging, he pulls down the tranquil-looking mask of social relationship to expose the underlying conflicts. A critique of Hafiz from different aspects reveals his presence in a society aspiring to shackle everyone and take away their freedom.  Hafiz was not a poet to surrender to  the pressure of the authorities. He was sufficiently smart to tackle every evolving situation to publicize his criticism. He was seeking out a world in place of the governing one, an autonomous world not subservient an entrenched order.
To critique the status quo, Hafiz capitalized on ambiguous language lending itself to different layers of interpretations. He also exploited his unique language to battle against the very vernacular akin to the power- to- be. His language had the potential to distance itself from the norm and to fight deep-rooted unreflective tradition. For a free poet, custom is a manacle hindering his move to voice his discontent.  It is in this language that the poet militates against the static element of language and makes his presence felt.
To distance himself from monologue and to critique the entrenched reality in the domain of imagery Hafiz makes effective use of different devices, including ambiguity. Though the political constraints and impediments of his time (ie, the eighth century on the lunar calendar)) was, from a sociological point of view, conducive to ambiguity, but his artistic self and spiritual disposition made him use this device for the indirect artistic expression of his poems.