Phd in CIVILIZATIONS OF ASIA AND AFRICA

Research: The contemporary Persian novel in zabān-e ‘āmiyāne

Research Project's Abstract:

The Neo-Persian language presents a form of diglossia whereby next to a literary or official variety, traditionally linked to writing or formal situations, there is a colloquial standard, also called zabān-e ‘āmiyāne (“common language”), which is the normal vehicle of daily conversations.
In the second half of the twentieth century this linguistic variety, orthographically reproduced in writing, was used for the first time by Ṣādeq Cubak as the main means of expression for composing a novel. While literary Neo-Persian has maintained an undisputed prestige, the last decade has seen for the first time a significant upswing in novels adopting this style by a group of authors belonging to the generation born just before or after 1979.
This research will consider the novels written entirely in zabān-e ‘āmiyāne published between 2010 and 2020 for a linguistic and philological analysis. The aim is to evaluate the adaptation of the colloquial Persian to the writing by each author, the contents and the narrative techniques, the social and historical context in which they originated and which compares the texts in order to clarify whether it is possible to consider them as an original literary phenomenon within the Persian literature and highlight the elements of continuity and break with tradition.

Research interests: modern and contemporary Persian literature, Persian language, Iranian linguistics, history of publishing in Iran, translation studies.


11/2021— today: PhD student at the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies (ISO), Sapienza University of Rome.
Project title: "The contemporary Persian novel in zabān-e ‘āmiyāne"

2011 - 2014, Master’s degree in Languages and economic and legal institutions of Asia and Mediterranean Africa, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Final grade: 110 cum laude
Thesis title: "Independent publishing in Iran: problems and relations with the Italian market"

2008 - 2011, Bachelor’s Degree in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Final grade: 110 cum laude
Thesis title: "The publishing house Dār al-Ādāb"