Persian Literature

Ehsan Yarshater

Overview

In this unique survey, twenty-one scholars examine Persian imaginative literature, bringing out its historical development through discussions of genres and styles.

Ehsan Yarshater’s introductory essay places the various phases of Iran’s literatures in perspective. It also expands on some areas of interest touched upon in the ensuing chapters, notably Old and Middle Persian literature. In a second essay, Yarshater explains the progression of the classical tradition from a robust youth to an effete old age, before moving on to a new beginning. Significant writers are highlighted in separate chapters.

The book’s sections include: introductory survey, pre-Islamic literatures, the classical period, contemporary literature of Iran, Persian literature outside Iran, and the translation of Persian literature.

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About the Author

Ehsan Yarshater was Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies at Columbia University and Director of its Center for Iranian Studies. He served as General Editor of Encyclopaedia Iranica and of its Bibliotheca Persica, which includes the Persian Heritage Series, the Persian Studies Series, and the Modern Persian Literature Series. He was also General Editor of the History of al-Tabari described in the current volume.

Sources, Links & Further Readings

E. W. Persian Literature. (Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies. 3), by Ehsan Yarshater. Zeitschrift Der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 139, no. 2 (1989): 503–503. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43588243
Glünz, Michael. Persian Literature, by Ehsan Yarshater. Die Welt Des Islams 30, no. 1/4 (1990): 255–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/1571071
Meisami, Julie Scott. Persian Literature, by Ehsan Yarshater. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 52, no. 2 (1989): 365–66. http://www.jstor.org/stable/617250
Meisami, Julie Scott. Persian Literature, by Ehsan Yarshater. Journal of the American Oriental Society 109, no. 4 (1989): 709–10. https://doi.org/10.2307/604128
Karimi-Hakkak, Ahmad. Persian Literature, (Persian Heritage Series.), by Ehsan Yarshater. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 24, no. 1 (1990): 103–4. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23060843
Kreyenbroek, Philip G. Persian Literature, by Ehsan Yarshater. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, no. 2 (1989): 340–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25212513
Hanaway, William L. Persian Literature, by Ehsan Yarshater. International Journal of Middle East Studies 21, no. 4 (1989): 583–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/164113
Rahimieh, Nasrin. Persian Literature, by Ehsan Yarshater. Iranian Studies 24, no. 1/4 (1991): 104–5. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4310773