©2012 Sima Daad Medieval Persian Texts and Modern Contexts: Mohammad Qazvini and the Modern Reception of Chahār Maqāle (The Four Discourses) Sima Daad A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2012 Reading Committee: Leroy Searle, Chair Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak Raimonda Modiano William Streitberger Program authorized to offer the degree: Comparative Literature – Textual Studies University of Washington Abstract Medieval Persian Texts and Modern Contexts: Mohammad Qazvini and the Modern Reception of Chahār Maqāle (The Four Discourses) Sima Daad Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Leroy F. Searle Department of English and Comparative Literature This five-chapter dissertation engages two conventionally separated fields— Modern Perso-Islamic textual criticism inaugurated by Mohammed Qazvini in the context of early 20th –century Iran and Orientalist scholarship, and post-modernist literary theory—to examine the significance of Chahār Maqāle for the intellectual discourse of modernity in Iran. Modern Textual Criticism applies its scientific philological research to the historical restoration of texts, ordinarily in a systematic method of excavation, documentation and establishment of the textual history, removal of non-authorial interpolations, avoidance of personal influence, and restoration of an original-authorial text. Post-modernist literary theory provides analytical tools for reading texts and editions within their respective milieux as historical products capable of trans-historical continuity. In particular this dissertation argues that the original and the reproduced versions of the text each reveals nuances of a particular historical moment that are not directly retrievable from antiquity, yet both versions share a continuing concern for recovering elements of Iranian identity, frequently obscured by the effects of a long history of Islamization. By deconstructing the rhetoric, form and structure in Chahār Maqāle in the milieu of its production, this interdisciplinary study explicates several layers of authorial and non-authorial intentionality in the work and argues that Qazvini’s interest in this text was partly due to such textual potentials. Critical discourse analysis of Qazvini’s methodological techniques and critical views in the context of Iranians’ transformation in the modern nation-state era shows that Qazvini’s reception and reconstruction of this text was the convergence of a response to the purist tendency in the modern discourse of Iranian national identity, and the continuum of Iranians’ collective endeavor to grasp Iran as a distinct cultural and political entity. Qazvini’s Perso-Islamic model of identity, discernible from his critical views and methodology, gained momentum in the 1920s through Berlin based journals, and in the 1930s through cultural activities under Rezā Shah’s nationalism agenda. By applying cultural understanding to text and textual criticism, the dissertation also challenges the disciplinary character of current Iranian studies, certain philological premises of traditional textual criticism, and the restricted and problematic view of authorial intentionality in current literary theory. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction- Chahār Maqāle in the 20th Century. 1 Section 1- Methods, Models and Texts . 2 Section 2- Chahār Maqāle: A Historical Overview of Reception . 12 Chapter 1- Chahār Maqāle in Perspective: A Medieval Book of Counsel. 24 Section 1- Description. 24 Section 2- Context of the Author, the Text, and the Addressee . 51 Chapter 2- Mohammad Qazvini and the Restoration of Chahār Maqāle. 73 Section 1- Description . 73 Section 2- Mode of Reading . 80 Section 3- Critical-Editorial Processing . 88 Section 4- Ambivalences and Inconsistencies. 101 Chapter 3- Tradition, Transition, and Ambivalent Transactions. 120 Section 1- Biography. 120 Section 2- Work and Context . 127 Section 3- Oriental Scholarship . 153 Chapter 4- Reading Chahār Maqāle Anew: Two Critical Arguments . 161 Section 1- Labyrinth of Intentions: Deconstructing the Teleology of Chahār Maqāle. 161 Section 2- Unearthing Converged-Submerged Voices in Chahār Maqāle . 181 Chapter 5- Qazvini, Chahār Maqāle and Nationalist Discourse in the 19th-20th Century: Rethinking Cultural Identity . 214 Conclusion- Chahār Maqāle and the Continuum of Iranian Cultural Memory . 259 Appendices . 271 Bibliography . 282 Vita . 318 i List of Figures Figure 1: The Secretary of the Caliph Distracted by His Maidenservant . 1 Figure 2: Discursive Space and Collective Identity . 6 Figure 3: The Trajectory of Nezāmi ‘Aruzi, I . 64 Figure 4: The Trajectory of Nezāmi ‘Aruzi, II . 72 Figure 5: Image 1: Main text printed al-Hilāl . 77 Figure 6: Image 2: Qazvini’s introduction, printed in Brill . 77 Figure 7: Image 3: Qazvini’s annotations and notes . 79 Figure 8: Recension A, B, T. 96 Figure 9: Lost Archetype: four scenarios . 108 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Obviously, it would not have been possible for me to complete my doctoral dissertation if I had not the privilege of so much unconditioned support. Let me begin by expressing my extreme gratitude to the chair of my supervisory committee, Professor Leroy F. Searle who read every draft of this dissertation from inception to conclusion with extreme care, and supported my pace of exploration with patience by unobtrusive and invaluable mentorship in conceptual as well as technical aspects. I would like to give special thanks to the long-time supervisor of my intellectual life, Professor Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak whose depth and breadth of knowledge in Iranian studies and whose professional commitment and cherishing empathy have given much weight to this project, just as they did years ago to my published master’s thesis in Iran. My extreme gratefulness goes to Professor Raimonda Modiano whose unique mentorship draws as much from a charming and generous personality as from intellectual excellence, both in her role as Co-Director of Textual Studies and in her unwavering support for my work. I would like to thank Professor William Streitberger twice, for giving me permission to audit his class and for honoring me by reading this dissertation and for his encouraging comments. The list of those who taught me at the University of Washington would not be complete without thanking Professor Joel T. Walker as a colleague and director of Persian studies, and as my Graduate School Representative for reading and commenting on my research. I would like to make mention with sincere gratefulness of my teachers at the University of Washington, in particular, in the Textual Studies program. In the completion of this work I had also the invaluable support from the Graduate School in the form of tuition waivers and a quarter of Chester Fritz Grant and iii from Textual Studies Program by funding my travels for research at the British Library, Cambridge University Libraries, the National Library of France, Libraries of Tehran, and Istanbul. I should thank the Departments of Comparative Literature and Near Eastern Languages and Civilization for providing me several travel grants to conferences and with teaching opportunities; the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute for two fellowships; and Jeff Shih’s generosity through International Graduate Student Loans at the University of Washington . I should acknowledge that the Libraries of the University of Washington played a crucial role in providing me with all available resources from the national and international archives, and with research facilities. Yuko Mera and Marcia Feinstein-Tobey’s help is of special note for their care in handling administrative matters. I am also very grateful to Guita Monfaredi, a conscientious librarian, a patient listener, and an extremely understanding friend whose support and kindness to me through my years at the University of Washington know no end. Also, I can never forget the confidence and warmth that my American host family, Brian Atwater and Frances DeMarco provided me when I was new to Seattle, and whenever I have needed them. And last word but not least in weight goes to my husband, ‘Ali, and my children, Ehsān, Sara and Sahar who were the source of true inspiration to me in this otherwise impossible eight-year journey. But above all, I must thank God for providing me with an endless list of kind teachers, colleagues and friends in Seattle, a privilege that was extremely crucial in helping me get along with long distance from my nears and dears. And of course, there are others whose names although are absent from this page are registered in my heart and mind forever with gratitude. iv DEDICATION To the memory of my brother, Seifollāh whose third year of eternal departure coincided with my defense of this dissertation, and to the memory of my parents from whom I learned perseverance and devotion. v 1 Introduction: Chahār Maqāle in the 20th Century Figure 1. “The Secretary of the Caliph Distracted by His Maidenservant” Nezāmi ‘Aruzi Samarqandi Chahār Maqāle. 1431. MS T-1954. Fl-R12. Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul. Cited from Eleanor Sims et al., Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002, p194. Image107. 2 Section 1- Methods, Models and Texts In this dissertation I will examine, from an interdisciplinary point of view, the medieval Persian treatise, Chahār Maqāle (1156-57) by Nezāmi ‘Aruzi Samarqandi (d. after 1157) and its critical edition (1910) by the pioneering Iranian scholar, Mohammad Qazvini