The Making of Persianate Modernity: Language and Literary History between Iran and India


DATE
Saturday September 28, 2024
TIME
4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
COST
Free

The Alireza Ahmadian Lecture in Iranian and Persianate Studies presents: The Making of Persianate Modernity: Language and Literary History between Iran and India on September 28, 2024.

For a millennium, Persian was a preeminent language of learning far beyond Iran, stretching from the Balkans to China. In this talk on his recent book, Alexander Jabbari explores what became of the vast Persian literary heritage in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Iran and South Asia, as nationalism took hold and the Persianate world fractured into nation-states. He shows how Iranians and South Asians drew from their shared past to produce a ‘Persianate modernity.’ Drawing from both Persian and Urdu sources, he reveals how intellectual and literary exchange between South Asian Muslims and Iranians resulted in the modernization of literary history, sexuality, national identity, and print culture.

Speaker

Alexander Jabbari is an Assistant Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of The Making of Persianate Modernity (Cambridge University Press, 2023), as well as scholarly articles published in Iranian Studies; Journal of Persianate Studies; PMLA; Philological Encounters; Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; and elsewhere.

Discussant

Hasan Siddiqui is an Assistant Professor of South Asian History at the University of British Columbia. A historian of South Asia specializing in early-modern intellectual history, his research interests include the history of encyclopedias, the history of political thought, and the history of the book. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Chicago.

Registration is required. Register here: https://ubc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sJbzgHjARnqX1PRRpEZqEQ


About the Alireza Ahmadian Lectures in Iranian and Persianate Studies: Alireza Ahmadian (1981 – 2019) was an enthusiastic researcher, a consummate socio-political analyst, and an opinion leader on foreign policy who nurtured the virtues of diplomatic dialogue and liberal democracy. Alireza was a proud and devoted UBC alumnus, supporter of UBC’s Department of Asian Studies, and beloved member of Canadian-Iranian Community. The department renamed this lecture series in his honour in 2019. Alireza’s friends in the community have provided funding to support this series, and this generous gift will see these important academic and community engagement events supported through to the end of the 2025/2026 academic year. Read More …
Should you have any questions, please contact the Department of Asian Studies at Asian.Studies@ubc.ca.