Undergraduate Course: Modern Persian Literature and 'Modern' Iran (IMES10061)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This option introduces students to 20th century Persian-language literary texts available in translation as a means of understanding the efforts of an ever-expanding Iranian intellectual class to address issues surrounding the rise of the modern nation-state in the Middle East generally and Iran in particular over this period via use of both the short story and the novel.
The course can intersect with other departmental courses on modern Middle Eastern Studies, allowing students to explore their particular interests generally. But, it will also intersect in particular with a course in modern Persian history which will consider the political and socio-economic history of Iran since the 16th century.
The course IMES10009, Modern Persian Literature, is a version of this course studying the texts in Persian.
The course IMES11051, Modern Iranian Society via Modern Iranian Literature, is a version of this course studying the texts in English translation for Postgraduate students.
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| Course description |
The first meeting will be an introductory one and will be led by the course tutor.
The remaining meetings will involve student presentation of the main topics for discussion and analysis by the class. Individual students will research and prepare papers on the authors, their careers and their contributions for presentation at each meeting. They are encouraged to develop delivery style and also to provide participants with a background reading list and a short written summary of the main points of their presentation.
All students - whether presenting or not - are to complete all readings for each session, and should arrive at class with 2-3 critical questions concerning each week's reading materials and should be prepared for focused discussions of key issues.
This option introduces students to 20th century Persian-language literary texts available in translation as a means of understanding the efforts of an ever-expanding Iranian intellectual class to address issues surrounding the rise of the modern nation-state in the Middle East generally and Iran in particular over this period via use of both the short story and the novel.
The course can intersect with other departmental courses on modern Middle Eastern Studies, allowing students to explore their particular interests generally. But, it will also intersect in particular with a course in modern Persian history which will consider the political and socio-economic history of Iran since the 16th century.
This course will add to options in Middle Eastern literature and cultural studies by exposing students to a range of important literary works translated from Persian while also requiring them to consider these works from the perspectives both of development/modernisation theory, Orientalism and postcolonial, the role of the intellectual in society generally and modern Iran in particular as well as gender studies and modern Middle Eastern history.
The course thus assists students in their engagement with those aspects of Middle East studies that are associated with modern Middle Eastern cultural, political and socio-economic. The course adds to those of our longer-standing and recently introduced offerings that broaden our focus on modern Middle Eastern cultural and political developments.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Before enrolling students on this course, you are asked to contact the IMES Secretary to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 504182, e-mail imes@ed.ac.uk). |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 courses in a suitable subject area at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
171 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
45 %,
Coursework
45 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
- 1x 1500 word short assignment: 15%
- 1x2500-word essay: 30%
- 2-hour exam: 45%
- Presentation and participation: 10%
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
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
Selected Bibliography:
1. Likely Required Readings (all works to be made available via WebCT 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),
Students are expected to conduct their own research and develop reading lists for seminar discussion and the paper, seeking additional sources independently especially, for example, in the references and bibliographies given in the articles and books cited herein and in consultation with the course organiser, and to become acquainted with key bibliographical materials in the field.
The best of these include Index Islamicus, in which one can find references to articles and books on all aspects of Middle Eastern history and culture. Devoted solely to Iranian history and culture is Abstracta Iranica (Paris). Both are available in the Main Library and Index Islamicus is available on-line in electronic form via the 'databases' section on the Resources pages of the Main Library's website.
There are two multi-volume encyclopedias which are also useful. The Encyclopedia of Islam, second edition (EI2) has many useful entries on things Iranian; the transliteration system is a bear, however. Encyclopedia Iranica (New York) is devoted entirely to Iranian history and culture. Referred to as EIr, there is as yet no index to its entries and - of course - its transliteration differs to that of EI2. Both are in the Main Library: the former is also available via the Library's electronic resources pages while EIr is also available for free on-line.
The multi-volume Cambridge History of Iran contains chapters on Iran for the historical time-period covered in each of the volumes. Chapters in these volumes cover the basic political and socio-economic history, art and architecture, literature, philosophical inquiry, etc. of the periods concerned.
Journals
On Iranian studies generally, there is the US-based journal Iranian Studies. The ML has an incomplete run of this journal. The UK-based journal Iran is useful as is the US-based International Journal of Middle East Studies. Middle East Studies and The British Journal of Middle East Studies (BRISMES) also cover contemporary Iran. Abstracta Iranica (available on line) will index articles under relevant subject headings.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The course aims also to develop further students' abilities to do secondary-source research and to present oral and written work clearly and effectively while also honing their analytical skills analytical skills and improving their interactive capacities. |
| Keywords | IMES MPL trans |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Andrew Newman
Tel: (0131 6)50 4178
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Vivien Macnish Porter
Tel: (0131 6)50 4182
Email: |
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