Resistance and Enchantment

This collection explores the history of Persian translation from the dual and contradictory perspective of resistance and cultural enchantment, providing fresh insights into the political and cultural motivations underlying translation activities carried out during the long history of Persian translation.

The volume is the first of its kind to provide a theoretical account of the history of Persian translation from interdisciplinary perspectives, largely uncharted territory in existing scholarship. The book is built on the foundation of resistance and enchantment, the duality of which allows for a fuller picture of the political and cultural motivations underpinning the history of translation in the region. Each of the eight contributions presents an in-depth archival study of a significant translation event, covering cultural encounters across a variety of historical and linguistic settings that have contributed to the construction of national identity.

Offering a spotlight for non-Western translation histories and traditions and the interconnectedness of translation and Persian language, culture, and identity, this book will be of interest to scholars in translation studies, literary history, cultural history, and Persian studies.