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The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studiesin collaboration with theDepartment of Middle Eastern Studies and theCenter for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago jointly present:
Using Film Adaptations of Persian Literature in Persian Language Instructions
M.R. Ghanoonparvar, Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin Saturday, 18 January 2025, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Canada and US) Zoom Meeting Registration:https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEscuqhpj0pGN18JsNTLS0KKhTzlY82j8Va
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Abstract:
One of the essential components of language instruction is the teaching of conversation. The typical material in textbooks traditionally contains dialogues dealing with day-to-day tasks such as asking directions, ordering a meal in a restaurant, reserving hotel rooms, and shopping. For various language levels, especially in the early semesters, these dialogues are generally written by textbook authors with the purpose of building vocabulary and teaching students common practical phrases for different situations that the learner may find himself or herself in, should he or she travel to a country where the language is spoken, and for this reason they are often reminiscent of popular travel phrase books. As useful as such material may be in providing the student with the necessary information, it usually fails to teach cultural literacy. To remedy this shortcoming, this paper examines the use of Iranian movies as authentic texts that provide students with the necessary cultural context to help them develop the skills and knowledge to comprehend the nuances of the culture of the language and the language of the culture they are studying. I argue that perhaps the best films for this purpose are those that are adaptations of Persian short stories and novels.
Bio:
M.R. Ghanoonparvar is Professor Emeritus of Persian and Comparative Literature at The University of Texas at Austin. Professor Ghanoonparvar has also taught at the University of Isfahan, the University of Virginia, and the University of Arizona, and was a Rockefeller Fellow at the University of Michigan. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Teachers of Persian (2021) as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to presenting Persian culinary arts to the non-Iranian public from Encyclopædia Iranica (2009). He has published widely on Persian literature and culture in both English and Persian and is the author of: Prophets of Doom: Literature as a Socio-Political Phenomenon in Modern Iran (1984), In a Persian Mirror: Images of the West and Westerners in Iranian Fiction (1993), Translating the Garden (2001), Reading Chubak (2005), Persian Cuisine: Traditional, Regional and Modern Foods (2006), Iranian Film and Persian Fiction (2016), Dining at the Safavid Court (2016), From Prophets of Doom to Chroniclers of Gloom (2021), and Iranian Cities in Persian Fiction (2022). His translations include Jalal Al-e Ahmad’s By the Pen, Sadeq Chubak’s The Patient Stone, Simin Daneshvar’s Savushun, Ahmad Kasravi’s On Islam and Shi’ism, Sadeq Hedayat’s The Myth of Creation, Nima Yushij’s The Neighbor Says: Letters of Nima Yushij and the Philosophy of Modern Persian Poetry, Davud Ghaffarzadegan’s Fortune Told in Blood, Mohammad Reza Bayrami’s The Tales of Sabalan and Eagles of Hill 60, and Bahram Beyza’i’s Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role. His edited volumes include Iranian Drama: An Anthology, In Transition: Essays on Culture and Identity in Middle Eastern Societies, Gholamhoseyn Sa’edi’s Othello in Wonderland and Mirror-Polishing Storytellers, and Moniro Ravanipour’s Satan Stones and Kanizu. His most recent translations include Shahrokh Meskub’s In the Alley of the Friend and Leaving, Staying, Returning, Hushang Golshiri’s Book of Jinn, Moniro Ravanipour’s The Drowned and These Crazy Nights, Hamid Shokat’s Flight into Darkness: A Political Biography of Shapour Bakhtiar and Caught in the Crossfire: A Political Biography of Qavamossaltaneh, Ghazaleh Alizadeh’s The Nights of Tehran and Two Views and Trial Ruhangiz Sharifian’s The Last Dream and Doran, and Shahrnush Parsipur’s Blue Logos. He was the recipient of the 2008 Lois Roth Prize for Literary Translation. His most recent book is Diseases, Dying, and Death in Persian Stories. His most recent translations include Ghazaleh Alizadeh’s The House of the Edrisis, Hossein Atashparvar’s From the Moon to the Well, and Ahmad Kasravi’s Superstitions. His forthcoming translation are Reza Julai’s Jujube Blossoms and Sadeq Hedayat’s Neyrangestan.