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This book considers some of the Western interpretations of The Shahnameh - Iran´s national epic, and argues that these interpretations are not only methodologically flawed, but are also more revealing of Western concerns and anxieties about Iran than they are about the Shahnameh.

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Shahnameh and the Presumptive Authority of the West An Epic´s Journey At Home: The Shahnameh in New Persian A Fierce Fidelity: Ferdowsi and his Archetype Why the Shahnameh? The Man in the Myths The Poet, the Prince, and the Language Epic Unity: The Case Against Underanalysis Sibling Rivalry Killing Demons, Deposing Kings: The Akvan Episode Of Lusting and Ousting Conclusion: Shahnameh and the Tyranny of Eurocenterism

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"Situating Western scholarship on the Shahnameh in the highly contested domain of modern political strife between Iran and the United States, Omidsalar insists on the singularity of this quintessential Iranian epic. His close textual analyses draw meticulously on a rich tradition of scholarship." - Nasrin Rahimieh, Maseeh Chair and director, Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture, University of California, Irvine

"Omidsalar s book on the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran, and the most iconic text of the Persian language and literature, is a most welcome addition to the long line of works dedicated to explaining the Shahnameh, beginning with Nöldeke s Das iranische nationalepos. His book is distinguished by his profound study of the Shahnameh and its sources as well as by innovative ideas, which challenge some of the traditional and current assumptions about this epic." - Ehsan Yarshater, Director of The Center for Iranian Studies and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University

"In this wide-ranging and well-written work, the preeminent Shahnameh scholar Mahmoud Omidsalar considers Iran s national epic and its centrality to Iranians sense of cultural identity. Through a remarkably rich examination of the epic s influence and importance that extends beyond the borders of Iran and the limits of Persian literature, Omidsalar reassesses, challenges, and offers innovative ways to rethink a vast array of textual, poetic, and historical approaches." - Susan Slyomovics, professor of Anthropology and Near Eastern Languages & Cultures and director of the G. E. von Grunnebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, UCLA and author of The Merchant of Art: An Arab Epic Hilali Poet in Performance

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MAHMOUD OMIDSALAR Librarian at UCLA, USA, and he received a PhD from Berkeley, USA.

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