Research Catalog

The Shahnameh : the Persian epic as world literature

Title
The Shahnameh : the Persian epic as world literature / Hamid Dabashi.
Author
Dabashi, Hamid, 1951-
Publication
  • New York : Columbia University Press, [2019]
  • ©2019

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TextUse in library JFE 19-3290Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xvii, 249 pages : illustrations; 24 cm
Summary
"The Shahnameh, an epic poem recounting the foundation of Iran across mythical, heroic, and historical ages, is the beating heart of Persian literature and culture. Composed by Abu al-Qasem Ferdowsi over a thirty-year period and completed in the year 1010, the epic has entertained generations of readers and profoundly shaped Persian culture, society, and politics. For a millennium, Iranian and Persian-speaking people around the globe have read, memorized, discussed, performed, adapted, and loved the poem. /In this book, Hamid Dabashi brings the Shahnameh to renewed global attention, encapsulating a lifetime of learning and teaching the Persian epic for a new generation of readers. Dabashi insightfully traces the epic's history, authorship, poetic significance, complicated legacy of political uses and abuses, and enduring significance in colonial and postcolonial contexts. In addition to explaining and celebrating what makes the Shahnameh such a distinctive literary work, he also considers the poem in the context of other epics, such as the Aeneid and the Odyssey, and critical debates about the concept of world literature. Arguing that Ferdowsi's epic and its reception broached this idea long before nineteenth-century Western literary criticism, Dabashi makes a powerful case that we need to rethink the very notion of "world literature" in light of his reading of the Persian epic." -- provided by publisher
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Introduction -- The Persian epics -- Ferdowsi the poet -- The book of kings -- Epics and empires -- Conclusion.
Call Number
JFE 19-3290
ISBN
  • 9780231183444
  • 0231183445
LCCN
2018019466
OCLC
1082879438
Author
Dabashi, Hamid, 1951- author.
Title
The Shahnameh : the Persian epic as world literature / Hamid Dabashi.
Publisher
New York : Columbia University Press, [2019]
Copyright Date
©2019
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Research Call Number
JFE 19-3290
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