An Iranian Mosaic


Book Description

An Iranian Mosaic follows the lives and the friendship of three different families. The book is divided into three parts: the nineteen fifties, sixties and seventies. The story begins in May 1955, in Tehran, when the Jarari family is attacked because they are Baha'i's, a religious minority group in Iran. It is decided that Husayn, 12, and Elahe, 11, will go to Manchester, England to stay with the Townsend family, and attend school with Elizabeth, 14 and Thomas, 12. It is very exciting and very scary for them to be so far from home. The story follows the lives of the four children in England, and back to a summer adventure in Iran. It then follows them to university in Geneva, Switzerland, where they become involved in communist intrigue. In the third part, they are adults back in Tehran and the story follows their children, Rory, Sarah and Caspian. Tehran is in turmoil. The Shah and Shahbanu leave the country to go into exile, and the Ayatollah Khomeini returns to lead the revolution.




Persian Tiles


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A Persian Mosaic


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CONTENTS Editors’ Foreword M.R. Ghanoonparvar: A Selected Bibliography The Liminal World of The Blind Owl by Mardin Aminpour The Pre-Islamic Past in Modern Iranian Culture: A Cultural Materialist Reading by Mahyar Entezari Mapping Dystopia in Ebrahim Golestan’s Mud Brick and Mirror by Somy Kim “As Fellow Asians?” Irano-Japanese Relations in the Interwar Period by Mikiya Koyagi Shah Isma’il Comes to Herat: An Anecdote from Vasefi’s “Amazing Events” (Badayi’ al-Vaqayi’) by Azfar Moin Enlightenment and Shades of Gray: Magic Realism in Women without Men by Dylan Oehler-Stricklin Remembrance, Reflection, and Retention: Involuntary Memory in Ayenehha-ye Dardar by Farkhondeh Shayesteh The Documentary Moment: War and Viewer Subjectivity in Bahman Ghobadi’s Turtles Can Fly by Blake Atwood Teaching Culture in the Persian Language Classroom by Shahla Adel Indefinite/Restrictive Maker as Evidence for a Raising/Promotion Analysis of Persian Restrictive Relative Clauses by Behrad Aghaei




Persian Mosaic


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Iran and the Deccan


Book Description

In the early 1400s, Iranian elites began migrating to the Deccan plateau of southern India. Lured to the region for many reasons, these poets, traders, statesmen, and artists of all kinds left an indelible mark on the Islamic sultanates that ruled the Deccan until the late seventeenth century. The result was the creation of a robust transregional Persianate network linking such distant cities as Bidar and Shiraz, Bijapur and Isfahan, and Golconda and Mashhad. Iran and the Deccan explores the circulation of art, culture, and talent between Iran and the Deccan over a three-hundred-year period. Its interdisciplinary contributions consider the factors that prompted migration, the physical and intellectual poles of connectivity between the two regions, and processes of adaptation and response. Placing the Deccan at the center of Indo-Persian and early modern global history, Iran and the Deccan reveals how mobility, liminality, and cultural translation nuance the traditional methods and boundaries of the humanities.




Persian Mirrors


Book Description

Sciolino goes behind the headlines for an intriguing, in-depth look at Iran's complex people and culture. photos. 1 map.




The Middle Ages in 50 Objects


Book Description

The extraordinary array of images included in this volume reveals the full and rich history of the Middle Ages. Exploring material objects from the European, Byzantine and Islamic worlds, the book casts a new light on the cultures that formed them, each culture illuminated by its treasures. The objects are divided among four topics: The Holy and the Faithful; The Sinful and the Spectral; Daily Life and Its Fictions, and Death and Its Aftermath. Each section is organized chronologically, and every object is accompanied by a penetrating essay that focuses on its visual and cultural significance within the wider context in which the object was made and used. Spot maps add yet another way to visualize and consider the significance of the objects and the history that they reveal. Lavishly illustrated, this is an appealing and original guide to the cultural history of the Middle Ages.




The Mosaic of Islam


Book Description

A comprehensive introduction to the faith and politics of Islam Today, 23 percent of the global population is Muslim, but ignorance and misinformation about Islam persist. In this fascinating and useful book, Perry Anderson interviews the noted scholar of Islam Suleiman Mourad about the Qurʾan and the history of the faith. Mourad elucidates the different stages in Islam’s development: the Qurʾan as scripture and the history of its codification; Muhammad and the significance of his Sunna and Hadith; the Sunni–Shiʿi split and the formation of various sects; the development of jihad; the transition to modernity and the challenges of reform; and the complexities of Islam in the modern world. He also looks at Wahhabism from its inception in the eighteenth century to its present-day position as the movement that galvanized modern Salafism and gave rise to militant Islam or jihadism. The Mosaic of Islam reveals both the richness and the fissures of the faith. It speaks of the different voices claiming to represent the religion and spans peaceful groups and manifestations as well as the bloody confrontations that disfigure the Middle East, such as the Saudi intervention in the Yemen and the collapse of Syria and Iraq.




Iran


Book Description

Iran is the only Middle Eastern state to have preserved its national identity through the upheavals of Arab, Turkish and Mongol invasions. It is heir to the richest culture in the Middle East: a culture that extends far beyond the state’s political boundaries. This book, first published in 1987, traces elements of continuity in Iranian society from pre-Islamic times to the turmoil of the Islamic Republic. The author discusses the persistence of religion as a dominant force in Iran’s politics and society; the attraction of unorthodox doctrines such as Mazdakism, Baha’ism, and revolutionary Shi’ism; the tradition of strong, charismatic leadership; and the constant problem of ruling peoples of diverse tribal, religious and linguistic affiliations. He finds explanations for recent political changes in conditions peculiarly Iranian and examines the emerging post-revolutionary society along with some of its new institutions, including the revolutionary guards, the assembly, the neighbourhood committees, and the Friday prayer leaders.




Things I've Been Silent About


Book Description

"Absorbing . . . a testament to the ways in which narrative truth-telling—from the greatest works of literature to the most intimate family stories—sustains and strengthens us.”—O: The Oprah Magazine In this stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, Azar Nafisi shares her memories of living in thrall to a powerful and complex mother against the backdrop of a country’s political revolution. A girl’s pain over family secrets, a young woman’s discovery of the power of sensuality in literature, the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by upheaval—these and other threads are woven together in this beautiful memoir as a gifted storyteller once again transforms the way we see the world and “reminds us of why we read in the first place” (Newsday). BONUS: This edition contains a Things I've Been Silent About discussion guide. Praise for Things I've Been Silent About “Deeply felt . . . an affecting account of a family’s struggle.”—New York Times “A gifted storyteller with a mastery of Western literature, Nafisi knows how to use language both to settle scores and to seduce.”—New York Times Book Review “An immensely rewarding and beautifully written act of courage, by turns amusing, tender and obsessively dogged.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A lyrical, often wrenching memoir.”—People