From Iran to the West
The Shahnameh remained a great gallery of images from Persian history, from which later poets could draw, and it has been using as the most important source for all Persian literature during the centuries. It is “the Book of the Books” as Mohammad-Ali Eslami Nodooshan, one of the most celebrated contemporary Iranian writers, described from which the national and universal motifs and themes emanates. The great Persian poems like Nezami, Sa’adi, Hafez, Omar Khayyam and, in general, all Persian people had used and still using it as their main source. It is like a springhead which irrigates all Persian literature and history. Whatever you read and whenever you step is full of the intoxicating fragrance of this always-running spring. This elixir of life not only has aromatized Persian literature but also has granted its immortality to Persian art including painting, cinema, and so on.
Shahnameh (the Book of the Kings) found its way to the West by Sir William Jones who translated a few parts of the book into English in 1774. While he compared Ferdowsi with Homer, both extraordinary men, and advocated the former for being called the Homer of the East, the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), which he termed "a glorious monument of Oriental genius and learning" as the Iliad, and Rostam as the Hercules of the book. He asserted that Shahnameh “possessed in the highest degree that fruitful invention and that creative genius, which is the soul of poetry” (Andrews, Folsom, and Bowen, 156-157). Since then, the translations of Shahnameh, in different languages appeared one after another. Some scholars who rendered this literary and cultural masterpiece are Joseph Champion with an abridged selection in style of Pope’s Iliad (in 17...
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...and passions during composing Shahnameh and Soltan Mahmmud’s ingratitude toward him and his work. He narrated a dramatic ending for Ferdowsi’s life as mentioned in the following sentence: “ … even as the camels entered the Rúdbár Gate, the corpse of Firdawsi was borne forth from the Gate of Razán”. He found a reflection of himself in Persian literature and he used Ferdowsi’s life as a mirror of his own life and his waiting for the legacy of his own uncle, Salomon Heine, and his sufferings.
In fact, the fame and influences of Ferdowsi is such that cannot be mentioned in just an essay. His Shahnameh is translated in different languages, which by far the best edition of the Shahnameh available according to Dick Davis, professor of Persian at Ohio State University is the one which is edited by Dr. Djalal Khaleghi Motlagh, and cherished by the scholars and the readers.
written in cuneiform on 12 clay tablets about 2000 BC. This heroic poem is named
Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, is a story based on her own childhood in Iran. The story consists of the struggles her family and friends are forced to deal with, changing Marji’s view of Iranian life and its people. The book starts during a revolution, the Iranian people are trying to overthrow the emperor and when they finally do, war breaks out between Iraq and Iran. During the war thousands of people’s lives were taken, women, children and men of all ages. During this Marji’s parents forced her to leave Iran because they know it is too dangerous for a child of her age to live in the middle of a war so severe and life threatening. During the time Marji did live in Iran, she heard many tales about the umpteen conflicts and struggles that lower class people were faced with. Marji saw her maid whom she loved and cared for, not being able to date her love, their neighbor, because she was embedded in a different social class. She experienced the harsh realities of divergence between men and women. Women were compelled to wear a veil in order to not “distract” men with their hair. Younger boys in the lower end of the class system were given a “golden” key to take to war, which was actually plastic; this key meant that if they were killed fighting for what they believed in, it would guarantee their entrance to heaven. In Iran, there were a variety of ways in which the people of Iran can be distinguished between social classes. Your social class affected you in every way there was during this horrible time in Iran.
Literature shows us the changes of our society from time to time. It also gives us an idea about people, culture, politics, gender traditions, as well as an overall view of previous civilizations. As a part of literature, poetry introduces us to different cultures with different perspectives. Ancient Egypt and ancient China may differ in terms of culture, politics, economic stability, tradition, or even in religious belief. However, in poetry, especially in love lyrics both Egyptian and Chinese poems portray common area of describing women, social attitudes toward love, sexuality and the existence of romance or selfishness in relationships. . If we look at the Egyptian poem “My god, my Lotus” and the Chinese poem “Fishhawk”, we will see both poems have similarities in describing relationships. Also, they have the similarity of imagining the lovers and their expression of love toward each other. However, both poems have some significant differences in terms of representing female sexuality, gender disparity and the display of love.
Persia has always been known to its own people as Iran ( the land of Aryans ), although for centuries it was referred to as Persia (Pars or Fars ) by Europeans. In 1935 the government specified that it should be called Iran; however, in 1949 they allowed both names to be used. Most people today, know Persia through its carpet , its caviar, or through its importance as one of the world's major oil producer countries. Yet,Persia has one of the richest and oldest cultures in the world. Iran history life began as early as 4000 B.C, when the Iranian plateau was occupied by people with variety of cultures. Persia'sfirst growth began in the Neolitic era, and by the third millennium, under Cyrus the great , it became one of the world greatest empires.
Moosa, Matti. The Early Novels of Naguib Mahfouz. Gainsville, Fla.: University Press of Florida, 1994. [+] These quotes are taken from an uncited handout given to me by Richard Sutliff that I believe to be from Moosa's book.
Ahmedi, Farah, Mir Tamim. Ansary, and Farah Ahmedi. The Other Side of the Sky: A Memoir. New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2005. Print.
Firoozeh Dumas does a great job documenting her experiences as an Iranian in America both before and after the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis. Throughout each chapter we learning something new, not only about Iran, but also about family, culture, and Dumas herself.
Beck, Lois, and Guity Nashat. Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republic. Urbana:
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
Shahrazad is kept alive mainly because of her vast knowledge of the king, allowing her to plan her escape precisely and with skill. Shahrazad is a scholar, so says the narrative, and is very aware of what will capture the king’s attention enough to spare her every night, because: “[She] had read the books of literature, philosophy, and medicine. She knew poetry by heart…and...
Nagle, D. Brendan. “The Second Persian Invasion” The Ancient World; A social and Cultural History. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Iran’s society became more fundamentalist, which made Marji more disillusioned of her religion. At the beginning of the story, when the westernized dictator Shah governs Iran, Marji defines herself as a “very religious” (6) person, although she and her family think of themselves as being “very modern and Avant-Garde”(6). Religion, and its many stories and traditions perspectives allowed Marji to think of herself as “the last prophet”. Thinking of herself as a prophet somehow made her to escape to an imaginary religious glory where there were not violent atrocities. But, ironically, that religious imaginary boundary was only a façade that blocked her to see the violent reality. However, in the story “The Sheep” she began to see the cruel reality. In the story “The Sheep” Marji’s uncle Anoosh got executed by the so-called “Divine Justice”. Although the
Malak, Amin. "The Shahrazadic Tradition: Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey and the Art of Storytelling." Journal of Commonwealth Literature 28.2 (1993): 108-118.
Throughout Salih's novel the main character's identity is unclear. While the reader learns much about his background: educational, familial, and professional, his name is never mentioned. A surname is used in reference to his family, but is never applied to him. In once instance he is referred to by another character as "effendi" (85). This phrase, however, is an Arabic title roughly equivalent to "sir" rather than a name. The central character's namelessness serves to focus attention on another character with whom he develops an uneasy friendship: Mustafa Sa'eed.