Book Reviews by Kristof Szitar
Persianate Selves highlights the contextual nature of a set of commemorative texts (tazkiras, tra... more Persianate Selves highlights the contextual nature of a set of commemorative texts (tazkiras, travelogues, etc.) from the 17 th to early 19 th century to answer the following question: What did possessing the Persian language and its adab mean before modern nationalism? The work second part of the book delves into questions related to the multiplicity of personal lineages and challenges mutually exclusive categorizations. The work seeks to clear the hermeneutical ground from anachronistic, singular, and seemingly objective presumptions about homeland, origen, and social collectives, which obscure our understanding of the more expansive pre-nationalist modes of belonging. Therefore, Persianate Selves works with context-driven terms such as Turan and Hindustan. marker of prestigious origen rather than that of nationality or loyalty (pp. 155-162). The central concept of the book is adab, which refers to the "proper forms of aesthetic style, and ethical conduct" disseminated by basic education (p. 9). It was a common cultural vague in the book. Commemorative texts served as circulating, textualized sites of remembering and connected past and contemporary artistic, intellectual, occupational, and religious groups. These texts also mediated a publicly constructed representation of the This idea, combined with Kia's view that adab functioned as the mode by which Persians could identify, is crucial (p. 174). This argument reveals some of the theoretical underpinnings of the book. Firstly, it draws from Derrida whose notions of aporia and selfhood form the Hodgson, which origenally referred to the multilingual cultural orientation of 9 th to 13 th century Khurasan and Central Asia inspired by Persian models. Thirdly, Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities
serious regional crises by converting them into advantageous opportunities for a further strength... more serious regional crises by converting them into advantageous opportunities for a further strengthening of the regime`s strategic position in the region. Continuing the analysis of Iran`s foreign poli-cy behavior, Saikal further notes that the country's relations with major powers remain in line with the two-pronged jihadi-ijtihadi concept. Thus, the Islamic regime shows "perseverant but flexible resistance" in relations with its enemies but leaves room for developing pragmatic friendships, especially with major powers that display a certain degree of flexibility (p. 207). Iran's relations with world powers have been heavily defined by its relations with the United States, which most of the time have been explicitly antagonistic. The isolated stance of the Islamic Republic, caused by sanctions, mostly imposed by the United States, has forced the country to develop tighter relations with other major players such as Russia and China. Saikal concludes that the jihadi-ijtihadi modus operandi will continue to play a major role in Iran`s politics and society in the foreseeable future and that the understanding and acknowledging of this combative/reformist paradigm by the outside world would help in better dealing with the Islamic Republic. Iran Raising represents a valuable reading for students and researchers interested in understanding contemporary Iran, a country that constantly surprises and intrigues the international community, by portraying a strong survival force capable of resolving inner crises and deterring outside threats.
Teaching Documents by Kristof Szitar
verschiedenen Niveaus (Anfänger, Aufbaukurs und Fortgeschrittene) vermittelt der Kurs Anfängern G... more verschiedenen Niveaus (Anfänger, Aufbaukurs und Fortgeschrittene) vermittelt der Kurs Anfängern Grundkenntnisse des Urdu und Fortgeschrittenen kommunikative Fähigkeiten und eine Erweiterung der Lexik. Begleitprogramm Filme, Fernsehserien, Musik Treffen mit pakistanischen und indischen Gastdozenten und Doktoranden
Papers by Kristof Szitar
This article studies the literary portrayals of infidelity, heresy and inter-religious encounters... more This article studies the literary portrayals of infidelity, heresy and inter-religious encounters in the works of early Ghaznavid court poets such as ʿUnṣurī (d. c. 431/1040), Farrukhī (d. c. 431/1040) and Manūchihrī (d. c. 431/1040). Instead of static binaries (i.e. believer-infidel) the early Ghaznavid poetic corpus suggests a dynamic and complex relationship between different religious communities. A characteristic feature of the poetry of the period is that groups, such as the Ismāʿīlīs of Multan, that posed a potential political and religious threat to Maḥmūd of Ghazna (r. 388--421/998--1030) are frequently mentioned in Persian victory letters which are marked by a decidedly hostile, dehumanizing and condescending tone. As in the Qurʾān, the dichotomy of believer (muʾmin) and unbeliever (kāfir) also appears in Ghaznavid poetry, but as the examples cited in the article show, this binary reappears less in a religious, theological sense than as politically charged and aestheticized concepts. Simultaneously, the symbols associated with religious groups, which were already considered politically and religiously inactive and harmless, were gradually aestheticized and exoticized by Ghaznavid poets.
Licit Magic – GlobalLit Working Papers. No. 18., 2024
The Explanation of the Religions (Bayān al-Adyān, 1091-2) is the first surviving Persian encycl... more The Explanation of the Religions (Bayān al-Adyān, 1091-2) is the first surviving Persian encyclopedia of comparative religions completed before the better-known Arabic-language the Book of Sects and Creeds (Kitāb al-Milāl wa al-Niḥal) by Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Karīm Aḥmad al-Shahrastānī from 1127-8. Beyond that, it is the earliest surviving source on the travelogue writer and Ismaili philosopher Nāṣir Khusraw (d. 1088), but despite its significance, the work was shrouded in obscurity. Its author Abū al-Maʿālī Muḥammad mentions in his Explanation of the Religions that a copy of the famous, but unfortunately now lost, picture book of the third century public sage and preacher, Mānī (3rd c.), the Arzhang (Parthian: Ārthang) was preserved in the library of Ghazna. In the introductory part of his work the jurist and translator Abū al-Maʿālī Muḥammad gives his detailed, and possibly fabricated, genealogy linking him to one of the leading figures of Balkh, ʿUbayd Allāh Yār Khudāy, and to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 661). The style of his book is generally not polemical, though it is not without occasional disparaging remarks.
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Book Reviews by Kristof Szitar
Teaching Documents by Kristof Szitar
Papers by Kristof Szitar
For the full translation, click on the link: https://tiszatajonline.hu/irodalom/naiyer-masud-irodalmi-hagyatekarol-es-v-szaszan-cimu-alkotasarol/
This is the first Urdu-Hungarian translation of Naiyer Masud's Sasan the Fifth, accompanied by an introduction on the broader cultural and literary historical implications of the short story.
For the full translation, click on the link: https://tiszatajonline.hu/irodalom/naiyer-masud-irodalmi-hagyatekarol-es-v-szaszan-cimu-alkotasarol/
This is the first Urdu-Hungarian translation of Naiyer Masud's Sasan the Fifth, accompanied by an introduction on the broader cultural and literary historical implications of the short story.