Sadeq Hedayat: The Life and Legend of an Iranian Writer

Description

Sadeq Hedayat is the most famous and the most enigmatic Iranian writer of the 20th century. This book is the first comprehensive study of Hedayat's life and works set against the background of literary and political developments in a rapidly changing Iran over the first half of the 20th century. Katouzian discusses Hedayat's life and times and the literary and political circles with which he was associated. But he also emphasises the uniqueness and universality of his ideas that have both influenced and set Hedayat apart from other Iranian writers of the period and that have given him a mystique that has been instrumental in his posthumous success with acclaimed works such as The Blind Owl. This second edition is fully revised and updated to reflect on recent debates and scholarship on Sadeq Hadeyat.

Homa Katouzian is the Iran Heritage Foundation Research Fellow at St Antony's College, and Member of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, UK. His recent books include Khalil Maleki, The Human Face of Iranian Socialism (2018); Sa'di in Love: An Anthology of Sa'di's love lyrics in Persian and English (I.B.Tauris, 2016); Iran: Politics, History and Literature (2013); Iran: A Beginners' Guide (2013).

Sadeq Hedayat offers the first reliable introduction to an Iranian writer whose genius is as elusive as the gazelle in the fourteenth-century Persian poet Hafiz's poem... Katouzian deftly dispels the legends about Hedayat that have grown up since his death... Katouzian has produced a study which all who want to understand Iran ought to read. This is a Life which inevitably tells more about Iran's sufferings in the modern world than many other books do. * Peter Avery, Times Literary Supplement * "a skilful and pioneering study of Sadiq Hedayat which builds on previous scholarship." * Muslim World Book Review * Homa Katouzian has merely reminded us in this revised edition of his already seminal work that he is bar-none the final word on Sadeq Hedayat. This work is a testament to Katouzian's uncanny ability to synthesize society, literature, politics, and a literary persona in a particularly important century in Iran's turbulent and experimental history. The unabashedly informed penmanship, invigorated by well-researched scholarship that is devoid of what we see today are flights of pomp and fancy makes this revised, larger edition a celebrated platform upon which studies on Hedayat can be nurtured: mindful of philology, sociology, and culture. Homa Katouzian carefully draws a logical road map of Hedayat's time and life: from birth to suicide; all awhile surgically keeping the milieu and many of its most pertinent facet's in a literary persona's life present in his discourse. The development of the theme in this book leaves no room for confusion in the flow of this book and as such in the way it informs. Kudos to Professor Katouzian as this is simply a masterpiece: New and improved and AGAIN! * Alireza Korangy, Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Persian Literature * A must read for anyone who is exploring the field of modern Persian literature, culture, and politics. Katouzian brilliantly and carefully provides a tangible and original framework with which to present an alternative understanding of the life and career of Sadeq Hedayat in the socio-political context of modern Iran. * Fatemeh Shams, University of Pennsylvania, USA * 'In this book Homa Katouzian walks the readers, both the experts on Iran and Persian literature and those who might not be familiar with that country and its culture, through the maze of Hedayat's life and mind via his stories producing the most thorough, well researched, and reader friendly account of Sadeq Hedayat's life and work.' * M. R. Ghanoonparvar, The University of Texas at Austin, USA *