Oral Literature of Iranian Languages: Kurdish, Pashto, Balochi, Ossetic, Persian and Tajik

by: Ehsan Yarshater, Philip G. Kreyenbroek & Ulrich Marzolph

Persian literature is the jewel in the crown of Persian culture. It has profoundly influenced the literatures of Ottoman Turkey, Muslim India and Turkic Central Asia. It has been a source of inspiration for Goethe, Emerson, Matthew Arnold and Jorge Luis Borges among others and praised by William Jones, Tagore, E. M. Forster and many more. Yet although in the past few years the poems of Rumi have attracted the kind of popular attention enjoyed by Omar Khayyam in the 19th century, Persian literature has never received the attention it truly deserves. A History of Persian Literature answers this need and offers a new, comprehensive and detailed history of its subject. This 18-volume, authoritative survey reflects the stature and significance of Persian literature as the single most important accomplishment of the Iranian experience. Prominent scholars in the field bring a fresh critical approach to bear on this important topic and each volume includes representative samples of this literature. The main object of this companion volume is to provide an overview of the most important extant literary sources in Iranian Languages other than Persian - the Kurdish, Pashto, Balochi and Ossetic languages which not only have a rich tradition of their own but have also exerted such a powerful influence on the language of the great Persian poets. It also explores the rich vein of oral traditions in the Persian literature of Iran and Tajikistan and will be an indispensable source for the literary traditions of non-Persian languages of Iranian roots as well as an invaluable guide to the subject.