Event



Virtual Book Launch: A Revolution in Rhyme

Fatemeh Shams in Conversation with Jocelyn Sharlet and Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak
Feb 22, 2021 at -

Revolution in Rhyme

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Join us for a virtual book launch for A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic, written by the University of Pennsylvania's Fatemeh Shams. Dr. Shams will be in conversation with Jocelyn Sharlet of the University of California, Davis and Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak of the University of California, Los Angeles. This event will take place on February 22, 2021 at 2:00 PM US Eastern Time.

A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic offers, for the first time, an original, timely examination of the pivotal role poetry plays in policy, power and political legitimacy in modern-day Iran. Through a compelling chronological and thematic framework, Shams presents fresh insights into the emerging lexicon of coercion and unrest in the modern Persian canon. Analysis of the lives and work of ten key poets traces the evolution of the Islamic Republic, from the 1979 Revolution, through to the Iran-Iraq War, the death of a leader and the rise of internal conflicts. Ancient forms jostle against didactic ideologies, exposing the complex relationship between poetry, patronage and literary production in authoritarian regimes, shedding light on a crucial area of discourse that has been hitherto overlooked.