Beyond Spiritual Allegory: Exploring the Self and Identity in relation to Attar’s the Conference of the Birds
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47067/ramss.v8i4.602Keywords:
Self, Dasein, Unconcealment, Intermediality, TellingAbstract
The study explores the idea of Self in relation to the concept of Dasein and unconcealment of the Self as being-in-the-world in Farid Ud Din Attar’s work The Conference of the Birds. Heidegger views artwork as a substructure, an allegory/symbol and a clearing open to multiple significations and in the process of a continuous making. Attar represents birds in the aforementioned work as a manifestation of human traits/flaws. My study tends to finds out spaciousness in Attar’s work where the Beings can experience a free place for their making particularly through the method of telling. The Hoopoe, the leader of the birds, tries to convince the other birds, to undertake an arduous journey in search of a leader through various stories. The birds give multiple excuses and exhibit allegorical representation of human attributes. The study conflates with Wurth’s intermediality which enriches this exploration by introducing a framework of ambivalence and the continuous negotiation of spiritual, and existential borders. This echoes the rift design of being in Heidegger's work which aligns with the mystical quest in Attar's narrative, where the self must traverse stages of self-awareness, shedding illusions to encounter the ultimate truth.
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