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Hidāyat’s Libidinal Hell: Persian Fiction and Inscribing the Demonic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Abstract
The prominent modern Iranian author Ṣādiq Hidāyat (1903‒51/1281‒1330 sh.) was arguably the most observant expositor of the contortions within the inner world of Iranian demonology during the first Pahlavī period (1921‒41/1299‒1320 sh.). Through an investigation of his many interbellum titles, such as “Zindah bih Gūr,” “S.G.L.L.,” and “‘Alavīyah Khanum,” the purpose of this paper is to flesh out Hidāyat’s role as a demonographer, meaning someone who inscribes the demonic in his works. It is argued that Hidāyat’s uniqueness was located in his ability to allow the demonic, “the world as it is before the human imagination begins to work on it,” to interact with man at his most nihilistic moment. As such, it is unsurprising that recognition of the demonic was often simultaneously the moment when the voice and visage of Nature itself became apparent.
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- Information
- Iranian Studies , Volume 49 , Issue 5: Special Issue: Dedicated to Homa Katouzian , September 2016 , pp. 887 - 911
- Copyright
- Copyright © The International Society For Iranian Studies 2016