Title
Ritual and Resurrection: Shiite Martyrdom and National Heroism in Daneshvar’s Savushun
Document Type
Article
Source
Rahavard: A Persian Journal of Iranian Studies
Issue
86
Publication Date
Spring 2009
Department
Office of Academic Affairs
Abstract
In 1969, with the novel genre in its infancy in Iran, Simin Daneshvar published Siavushun, the first novel by an Iranian woman. This novel -- a third-person narrative recounted from the point of view of Zari, a young wife and mother, living in Shiraz in the 1940s -- has enjoyed immense popularity, gone through sixteen reprints, and is "to this date [...] the sign most widely read Persian novel" ("Simin Daneshvar"). This popularity is attributable first to the authenticity of the protagonist Zari and her innately female world, second to the political and nationalist thrust of the novel.
Rights
Copyright © 2009 Rahavard: A Persian Journal of Iranian Studies. All rights reserved.