Urbanizing the Iranian Public: Text, Tehran and 1922

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Abstract

By using the heuristic device of transpatialization and the methodology of urban cultural studies, this article argues that the 1922 serialized novel Tehrān-e Makhuf (Dreadful Tehran) by Seyyed Mortaza Moshfeq-e Kazemi (1902-1978), with its distinctly urban modes of imagination and production, at once reflected and propelled a process that can be termed the urbanization of the Iranian public. The article analyses the literary techniques with which Moshfeq contributed to this process; the circumstances and context in which the novel was produced; and the ideological change reflected in the author and his work. The article thus sheds light on a crucial stage in modern Iranian history by unravelling some of the socio-spatial intertwinements that made that history.
Original languageEnglish
JournalMiddle Eastern Studies
Volume55
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)301-318
ISSN0026-3206
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2019

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