The Iranian cultural area is much larger than the area covered by the modern states of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Iranian languages are spoken in an area stretching from China to Turkey and from the Caucasus to Iraq. Persian is the most widespread Iranian language and has been until quite recently a lingua franca and a literary language in large parts of Central Asia and India. As the language of refined culture, Persian has deeply influenced the literary output of the Ottoman and the Moghul empires. In this course, a range of subjects is treated and discussed concerning Persian literature largely produced outside present day Iran.
Timetable
For the most recent update of the timetable please click here.
Method of instruction
Thirteen weekly seminars of two hours. Every three weeks the subject will change (see overview). Each seminar will be devoted to an analysis of primary sources, i.e. texts, images or audiovisual material. The student is asked to participate actively in the each seminar by preparing a review, an analysis or a translation of selected sources, made available by the lecturer beforehand. Each student will be expected to give a presentation in the seminar of week 13 and to hand in an essay of 3,000 words at the end of the course on a topic related to the contents of this course.
Required reading
NB This list is not definitive. Primary literature has not been enlisted here. Text materials, including a large part of the secondary literature given below, will be made available for photocopying a week before the start of the course.
I. The Flourishing of Persian Culture at the Ghaznavid Court
C.E. Bosworth, ‘The Development of Persian Culture under the Early Ghaznavids,’ Iran VI, 1968, pp. 33-44
Alice Hunsberger, Nasir Khusraw, The Ruby of Badakhshan, London, 2000, pp. ix-xi and 1-16
Gilbert Lazard, ‘The Rise of the New Persian Language’ in Cambridge History of Iran, vol. IV, Cambridge 1975, pp. 595-632.
J.S. Meisami, ‘Ghaznavid Panegyrics: Some Political Implications,’ Iran XXVIII, 1990, pp. 31-44
John Perry, ‘The Origin and Development of Literary Persian’, in General Introduction to Persian Literature, ed. J.T.P. de Bruijn, London 2009, pp. 43-70 (chapter 2)
E.Yarshater, ‘The Theme of Wine-Drinking and the Concept of the Beloved in Early Persian Poetry,’ Studia Islamica XIII (1960), pp. 43-53
II. Fables from India: the story of Kalila and Demna
François de Blois, ‘Pre-Islamic Iranian and Indian Influences on Persian Literature’, in General Introduction to Persian Literature, ed. J.T.P. de Bruijn, London 2009, pp. 333-344 (chapter 11)
C. Brockelmann, ‘Kalila wa Dimna,’ in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition (Brill online 2009)
M. & T. Omidsalar, ‘Fable,’ in Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. xiii, New York 1999, pp. 137-138
G.M. Wickens, ‘Anwār-e Sohayli,’ in Encyclopaedia Iranica, London and New York 1987, pp. 140-141
III. Imagination and Geography: The travels of Alexander, with specific reference to Gog and Magog
François de Blois, ‘Eskandar-nāma of Nezāmi’, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. ix, Costa Mesa, California, 1998, pp. 612-614
J.C. Bürgel, ‘Krieg und Frieden im Alexanderepos Nizamis’, in M. Bridges and J.Ch. Bürgel (eds.), The Problematics of Power, Eastern and Western Representations of Alexander the Great, Bern, 1996, pp. 91-107
William L. Hanaway, ‘Eskandar-nāma’, Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. ix, Costa Mesa, California, 1998, pp. 609-612
Claude Kappler, ‘Alexandre dans le Shāh Nāma de Firdousi: De la conquête du monde à la découverte de soi’, in M. Bridges and J.Ch. Bürgel (eds.), The Problematics of Power, Eastern and Western Representations of Alexander the Great, Bern, 1996, pp. 164-190
Scott D. Westrem, ‘Against Gog and Magog’, in Sylvia Tomasch, Sealy Gilles (eds) Text and Territory: Geographical Imagination in the European Middle Ages, Philadelphia, 1998, pp. 54-75
IV. From Persian to Tajik: Politics and Literature in 20th century Central Asia
J. Bečka, ‘Problème de l’écriture au Tadjikistan,’ in Pand-o Sokhan, eds. C. Balay, C. Kappler, Zh. Vesel, Teheran 1995, pp. 43-51
Thomas Loy, ‘About a Friend. Reflections on the Memoirs of Mordekhay Bachayev’, in Bukharan Jews in the 20th Century, Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 127-144
Keith Hitchins, ‘Ayni’, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. iii, London & New York 1989, pp. 144-149
John Perry, A Tajik Persian Reference Grammar, Leiden 2005, pp. 33-43
Lutz Rzehak, ‘The Linguistic Challenge: Bukharan Jews and Soviet Language Policy’, in Bukharan Jews in the 20th Century, Wiesbaden 2008, pp. 37-55
Examination
Paper (60%) and presentation (40%)
Information
Dr G.R. van den Berg
Matthias de Vrieshof 4, Witte Singel 25, room 109B Tel.: ** 31 (0) 71- 527 22 87.
Blackboard/webpage
Overview
I. The Flourishing of Persian Culture at the Ghaznavid Court (weeks 1-3)
II. Imagination and Geography: The travels of Alexander, with specific reference to Gog and Magog (weeks 4-6)
III. Fables from India: the story of Kalila and Demna (weeks 7-9)
IV. From Persian to Tajik: Politics and Literature in 20th century Central Asia (weeks 10-12)
V. Presentations (week 13)
Remarks
Registration via U-twist.