Eirciv 102a, spring 2006 vi february 7, 2006 basic bibliography some useful literature boyce, m. As far as i know, it presents the fullest and most detailed treatment of sumer s political history. The attempt to unravel the mystery of that broader history led naturally to an examination of the languages which were first, to our knowledge, spoken in that land. It is through this later language, called new persian or simply persian that the literary gifts of the iranians found their major channel of expression. The term renaissance implies an earlier period of literary activity, and indeed the early persian poets and writers owed much to the literature which had, flourished in preislamic iran. Modern scholarly histories of persian literature have usually been the history of iranian persian literature, rather than of the larger persianate world, where literary history is the story of the nation. Yet persian literature has never received the attention it truly deserves. The persian empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modernday iran that spanned several centuriesfrom the sixth century b. Directed by selim kuru, chair of the department of near eastern languages and civilization nelc, the programs scope includes the diverse persian and. It also allows us to foresee how the literature may progress. The programs scope includes the diverse persian and iranian cultures found throughout the middle east and the diaspora. Persian literature of early times the earliest remnant of the aryan languages of iran which antiquity has bequeathed to us is the language of the avesta, the sacred book of the zoroastrian religion. It has profoundly influenced the literatures of ottoman turkey, muslim india and turkic central asia and been a source of inspiration for goethe, emerson, matthew arnold and jorge luis borges among others.
Persian literature has always depended on allegory but whereas poets like nizami were using it as a means to bring people to god, modern iranian writers use it. Pdf poetic imagery, in a history of persian literature. Iranian textbooks, content and context 6 in the persian language and literature textbook for the fourth grade of primary school, the famous nationalist story of arash kamanghir, based on the epic poetry of abulghasem ferdowsi, the epic poet of iran, has been infused with external religious sentiment p. Cyrus the great had a concept of one world and the unification of all people around the known world. Middle persian literature see tavadia, 1956, now superseded by cereti, 2001, who also offers long excerpts in translation other than manichean includes first of all a wordforword translation of the avesta even faithfully rendering avestan syntax, which results in a clumsy, not to say at times obscure, middle persian version, accompanied.
As one of the great literatures of mankind the persian literature has its roots in surviving works in old. The journal aims to examine how persian has functioned as literary and cultural language, traversing the geographies of south, west, and central asia, including present day india. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. A history of persian literature answers this need and offers a new, comprehensive and detailed history of its subject. Xii modern persian poetry, 1940 to the present iran, afghanistan, tajikistan xiii modern fiction and drama xiv biographies of the poets and writers of the classical period xv biographies of the poets and writers of the modern period. History of persian literature from the beginning of the islamic period to the present day. Redrawing the boundaries of ajam in early modern persian. I ranib ook is the first and best iranian online bookshop, supply, and great source of persian farsi books. A brief history of persian literature iran chamber. This 20volume, authoritative survey reflects the stature and significance of persian literature as the single most important accomplishment of the iranian experience.
Poetic imagery, in a history of persian literature, vol. Persian literature collection selected articles persian literature an english article discussing history of persian literature, famous persi. This 18volume, authoritative survey reflects the stature and significance of persian literature as the single most important accomplishment of the. Persian literature, body of writings in new persian also called modern persian, the form of the persian language written since the 9th century with a slightly extended form of the arabic alphabet and with many arabic loanwords. Here is the best place for presenting rare, old, new and precious titles to buy them through the earth biggest persian online bookstore. It concludes with a sketch of a number of theo logical, ethical, and literary ideas of the sumerians which seem. Among enlightened members of the qajar elite the necessity of reforms was deeply felt. T he seminal work of persian literature is the shahnameh, an epic poem that recounts the history of preislamic persia or iranshahr greater iran.
Persian literature spans two and a half millennia, though much of the preislamic material has been lost. General introduction to persian literature history of. Written in 440 bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, the histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known in western asia, northern. Persian literature, volume 1,comprising the shah nameh. Since the old persian kings had composed their inscriptions in three vii. A history of persian literature persian literature is the jewel in the crown of persian culture. This led to the first attempts at a modernization of iranian. Some justification seems to be necessary for the addition of yet another history of iranian literature to the number of those already in existence.
The second chapter deals with the history of sumer from the prehistoric days of the fifth millennium to the early second millennium b. Literature and poetry education economy history and literature sociology novel psychology women glossary publications policy philosophy religion mp3 audio books free books for iran pdf non persian books miscellaneous. If we are to trust baisonghurs preface to the shah nameh, there were various efforts made from time to time to put together a complete story of the nations history, by farruchani, ramin, and especially by the dihkan danishwar a. Such a work must obviously contain as many novel features as possible, so that a short explanation of what my collaborators and i had in mind when. A literary history of persia by browne, edward granville, 18621926. The shahnameh contains 62 stories, told in 990 chapters with 50,000 rhyming couplets. So they continued to learn it by heart and thus communicate it from generation to. Literary terms xvi general index companion volumes to a history of persian literature. Kamin mohammadis top 10 iranian books books the guardian. Mesopotamia is a region of southwest asia in the tigris and euphrates river system that benefitted from the areas climate and geography to host the beginnings of human civilization. Pdf on dec 9, 2015, bahman solati and others published a brief study on classical persian literature find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Its sources have been within historical persia including presentday iran as well as regions of central asia where the persian language has been the national language through history. Students in the program have the opportunity to study up to four years of persian language and literature taught in the persian language, as well as courses on persian literature, history, and culture in english. Persian literature is the jewel in the crown of persian culture.
Books written in persian and books about iran and persian culture in farsi and english for sale. The persian and iranian studies program at the university of washington is dedicated to promoting teaching, scholarship, and thoughtful public discourse about all aspects of the history and culture of iran and the persian speaking world. For about 900 years the people of iran had no script in which they could write the avesta. This series was first published in 190206 by unwin and later reprinted by cambridge university press in 19561959. In persian literature, th e difference between poetry and pros e has always be en obvious and rather deliberate, with poetry almost always taking precedence. Sources for the history of persian literature n9 11. In the early decades of the 19th century, contacts between iran and europe rapidly increased, while two wars with russia 1804 and 182628 made apparent irans military weakness. Mulammad bahars classification of prose into periods according to style 117 5. The development of literature in politicalhistorical sequence ii5 4. The literary form of new persian is known as farsi in iran, where it is the countrys official language, and as dari in afghanistan where it and pashto are. The essential text for students of iranian literature through the ages. Pdf history of persian literature michael hillmann. A brief history of persian literature the persian language the old persian of the achaemenian empire, preserved in a number of cuneiform inscriptions, was an indoeuropean tongue with close affinities with sanskrit and avestan the language of.