Postgraduate Course: Modern Persian Literature and 'Modern' Iran (PG Version) (IMES11070)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | In this course we will study modern Iranian culture and history through the works of some of the key authors of modern Persian literature in English translation. The course does not require prior knowledge of Iran or Persian literature. The course will cover the period from the early twentieth century down to the present. It will provide students with an opportunity to develop an understanding of modern Iran through short stories, novels, poems and graphic novels. Through these various forms of literary works, we will examine some of the key historical events as well as social challenges that Iran has experienced, including modernity, westernisation, revolution, war and the role of women. This course is jointly taught with undergraduate students. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Gain an overview of the history and development of modern Persian literature.
- Develop an understanding of the social and historical developments within modern Iran.
- Engage critically with modern Persian literature and conduct independant research related to the topics and themes of this module.
- Develop analytical skills to undertake secondary-source research and present oral and written work clearly and effectively.
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Reading List
1. Likely Required Readings (all works to be made available via Virtual Learning Environment except as noted)
a) Works of Sadeq Hedayat (d. 1951)
Short Stories:
Dash Akol
Laleh
The Dead End
Three Drops of Blood
The Stray Dog
The Woman Who Lost Her Man
Novel:
The Blind Owl
b) Works of Samad-e Behrangi (d. 1968)
Short Stories:
The Bald Pigeon Keeper¿
The Old Woman and Her Golden Chicken¿
The Little Sugar-Beet Vemdor¿
24 Restless Hours¿
The Little Black Fish¿
c) Works of Jalal Al-e Ahmad (d. 1969)
Short Stories:
The Unwanted Woman¿
Seh Tar¿
Novels
The School Principal
Nun and the Pen
Autobiographical Wortk:
Lost in a Crowd
Social Criticism:
Westoxication
d) Works of Simin Daneshvar
Short Stories:
Jalal's SunsetAuthor(s): Simin Daneshvar, Farzaneh Milani, Jo-Anne HartSource: Iranian Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter, 1986), pp. 47-63.
Daneshvar¿s playhouse : a collection of stories (Washington, D.C : Mage Publishers, 1989) ML
A Persian requiem : a novel (London : Peter Halban, 1991) ML
Or, Savushun : a novel about modern Iran (Washington, D.C : Mage Publishers, c1990) ML
Sutra & other stories (Washington, D.C. : Mage Publishers, 1994) ML
2. Supplemental Bibliography
M. Boroujerdi, Iranian Intellectuals and the West, the Tormented Triumph of Nativism (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996). ML
D. P. Brookshaw, ¿Revivification of an Ossified Genre? Simin Behbahani and the Persian Ghazal', Iranian Studies,41/1 (2002) ,75 ¿ 90.
M. Cisco, 'Eternal Recurrence in The Blind Owl', Iranian Studies, 43/4(2010) 471 ¿ 488 .
J. Clinton, ¿A Bibliography of Modern Persian Literature in English Translation¿, Iranian Studies, 19/3-4 (1986), 327-346.
H. Dabashi, Theology of discontent : the ideological foundations of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (New York: New York University Press, 1993), Chapter 1 on Al-e Ahmad.
M. R. Ghanoonparvar, In a Persian mirror : images of the West and Westerners in Iranian fiction (Austin, University of Texas Press, 1993). ML
M. R. Ghanoonparvar, Prophets of doom : literature as a socio-political phenomenon in modern Iran (Lanham, MD : University Press of America, c1984). ML
M. R. Ghanoonparvar, Reading Chubak (Costa Mesa: Mazda, 2005). ML
M. R. Ghanoonparvar,¿The Storyteller's Canvas: The Life and Fiction of Simin Behbahani¿, Iranian Studies, 41/1 (2008), 37-45
B. Hanson, ¿The ¿Westoxication¿ of Iran: Depictions and Reactions of Behrangi, Al-e Ahmad and Shariati¿, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 15/1 (1983), 1-23. (Web CT)
M. Hillmann, ed., Hedayat's 'The Blind Owl' Forty Years After (Austin: University of Texas, 1978). ML
M. Hillmann, ¿The Modernist Trend in Persian Literature and Its Social Impact¿ Iranian Studies, 15/1 (1982), pp. 7-29.
M. Kamrava, Iran¿s Intellectual Revolution, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. ML
H. Kamshad, Modern Persian Prose Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966). ML
M.M. Khorrami, ed., and transl., Another sea, another shore : Persian stories of migration (Northampton, Mass. : Interlink, 2004). ML
M.M. Khorrami, ed., and transl., A world between : poems, short stories, and essays by Iranian-Americans (New York : George Braziller, 1999). ML
M.M. Khorrami, et al., eds and transl., A feast in the mirror : stories by contemporary Iranian women (Boulder, Colo: Lynne Reinner, 2000). ML
M.M. Khorrami, Modern reflections of classical traditions in Persian fiction (Lewiston, Lampeter : Edwin Mellen Press, 2003). ML
F. Lewis, et al., ed and transl., In a voice of their own : a collection of stories by Iranian women written since the Revolution of 1979 (Costa Mesa: Mazda, 1996). ML
H. Moayyad, ed., Stories from Iran, a Chicago Anthology, 1921-1991 (Washington DC: Mage Publishers, 1991) ML
F. Milani, ¿Power, Prudence and Print: Censorship and Simin Danashvar¿, Iranian Studies, Vol. 18, No. 2/4, Sociology of the Iranian Writer (Spring - Autumn, 1985), pp. 325-347
A. Pistor-Hatam, ¿Writing Back? Jalal Al-e Ahmad's (1923-69) Reflections on Selected Periods of Iranian History¿, Iranian Studies, 40/5 (2007), 559 ¿ 578. (Web CT)
T. Ricks, ed., Critical perspectives on modern Persian literature, (Washington, D.C. : Three Continents Press, c1984). ML
M. Southgate, tr., Modern Persian Short Stories (Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1980). ML
K. Talattof, ¿Iranian Women's Literature: From Pre-Revolutionary Social Discourse to Post-Revolutionary Feminism¿, IJMES, 29/4 (1997), 531-558.
K. Talatoof, 'I Will Rebuild You, Oh My Homeland': Simin Behbahani's Work and Sociopolitical Discourse¿, Iranian Studies, 41/I (2008), 19-36.
Special Issues of Iranian Studies:
Vol. 18, No. 2/4, Sociology of the Iranian Writer (Spring - Autumn, 1985)
Vol. 30, No. 3/4, Selections from the Literature of Iran, 1977-1997 (Summer - Autumn, 1997), |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
PG Version of IMES10061 |
| Keywords | MPLMI |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz
Tel: (0131 6)50 8432
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Iain Sutherland
Tel: (0131 6)51 3988
Email: |
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