The role of literature in the reconstruction of national memory: A research on the Iranian epic Kush Nameh By
 Liu Yingjun
Publisher Peking, Zhong Xi Book Pub Date 2021 Pub Location CN Isbn 0 Course(s)
   30

Description

This book is a research about the role of literature in the formation of Iranian national identity and the analysis of Iranians' view of China, by researching on the Iranian epic Kush Nameh, which is the result of nearly fifteen years of the author's studies in Persian, Arabic, and ancient and first-hand Chinese sources about Iran and the great Kush Nameh epic. This book, which is extracted from the author's thesis, is organized in 8 chapters and 447 pages and published in Peking University's "Research on Oriental Literature" book series. This book begins with a preface written by Wang E. Dan, one of the senior professors of the Oriental Literature Research Center of Peking University, and it was dedicated to the deceased professor Zhang Khou Nian, one of the contemporary Chinese Iranologists. The first chapter was written in two parts: the tradition of Iranian epic literature and the summary of Kush Nameh. The latter is itself divided into four parts, the last part of which mentions the unique values of Kush Nameh. The second chapter deals with the comparative study of Shahnameh and Kush Nameh and compares the commonalities and differences of these two books from the historical and epic point of view. In this part, the author emphasizes that Kush Nameh complements Shahnameh in terms of reconstructing the national identity of Iranians. The third chapter deals with the character of the alien ruler "Kush-e Pil-Dandan" (¬Elephant-toothed). The fourth and fifth chapters were devoted to the analysis of the geography of ancient Iran according to the text of Kush Nameh and to the description of some geographical terms such as China and Greater China. The sixth chapter is a research on the ancient connection routes of Iran with the countries of East Asia according to the description of Kush Nameh. The seventh chapter examines the image of China in Kush Nameh. The eighth chapter is also a literary research that talks about the importance of the role of literature in reconstructing of the memory and national identity of Iranians.