The Translatability of Love: The Romance Genre and the Prismatic Reception of Jane Eyre in Twentieth-Century Iran

Main author: Tahmasebian, Kayvan
Other authors: Gould, Rebecca Ruth
Format: Book Chapters           
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id eprints-41001
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description This essay examines how twentieth century Iranian readers situated Jane Eyre within the classical genre of romance literature (adabiyāt-i ʿāshiqāna), originating from the tradition of love narratives in verse (ʿishq-nāma) pioneered by the twelfth century Persian poet Nizami Ganjevi. While romance is only one among several of the original Jane Eyre’s modes of generic belonging, the translation and reception of Jane Eyre into Persian facilitated the novel’s generic recalibration. We show how the prohibition on romance literature following the 1979 Iranian revolution paved the way for foreign classics such as Jane Eyre to be read as romances in the classical sense of the term.
author_additional Reynolds, Matthew
author_additionalStr Reynolds, Matthew
format Book Chapters
author Tahmasebian, Kayvan
author_facet Tahmasebian, Kayvan
Gould, Rebecca Ruth
authorStr Tahmasebian, Kayvan
author_letter Tahmasebian, Kayvan
author2 Gould, Rebecca Ruth
author2Str Gould, Rebecca Ruth
title The Translatability of Love: The Romance Genre and the Prismatic Reception of Jane Eyre in Twentieth-Century Iran
publisher Open Book Publishers
publishDate 2023
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/41001/