This belated volume, the product of an International Conference held at the instance of English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad during February 17-19, 2013, is being published by the Asiatic Society in 2020 for the simple reason that the subject that has been addressed here comes close to the Society's broad objective of study in the area of classical Asian languages. In total twelve independent papers have been included with an elaborate Introduction by the editor who has related them in the context of important literary contributions of an unusual author of 20th Century Iranian literature. He is Sadeq Hedayat, born on 17th February in 1903 and died (committing suicide) on fifth April in 1951. A life that he lived for nearly 48 years was brilliant, colourful, full of excitement and a rich repository of unique human experience. No formal academic orientation to his credit, but surpassed surprisingly any boundary of cognizable domain of academic excellence. These are rare breeds in the history of human cultures available in many societies, specially during the 19th and 20th centuries, across the world at large.
Simply fascinating to know a Bohemian character and through him opening a wide range of literary activities, socio-political scenario in some Asian and European lands, and many more issues of comparative relevance perhaps justifies this publication for the benefit of scholars of comparative literature and history of literature.
Introduction
Sadeq Hedayat (b.1903), the iconoclastic literary luminary of the 20th century and an elixir of modern Iranian literature, hailed from an enlightened and financially stable Iranian family, members of which held civil services in important offices of the government. Having attended an Iranian elementary school, his real education started at St. Louis, a French missionary institution that developed his taste for French critical and literary appreciation. After graduating and being fortunate enough to receive a state grant for a scholarship abroad; he was sent to Ghent in Belgium to study engineering in 1925 with an objective to uplift the condition of Iranian Transport under The Ministry of Roads and Communication. Hedayat however, seemed to have lacked the desired interest in engineering and only after eight months he went to Paris to study architecture. During his stay at Ghent he composed "Marg" (Death) which was published in the periodical Iranshahr in 1926. In 1929 in accordance with his heart's desire, he obtained a permission to study literature; his creative endeavour being evident in the numerous works that he had already written. A sensitive and impressionable personality, Hedayat turned vegetarian after witnessing the slaughter of a camel and went on to write his amateurish first work, "Insan o haywan" (Man and Animals). This was followed in succession by Madelein, Zinda be-gür (Buried Alive), Asir-e Farânsavi (The French Captive), Haji Morad, Afsane-e Afarinesh (The Legend of Creation) and the historical drama Parvin Dokhtar-e Säsän (Parvin the Sasanian Girl). But in spite of his creative pursuits, Hedayat was unable to cope up with the burden of his course curriculum and eventually surrendered his scholarship to come home in the summer of 1930; a regrettable experience that he later cites in his letters.
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