02254    a2200313   4500001001100000005001700011008004100028020001800069037003600087040000700123041000800130072001400138072001500152072001400167072001600181072001200197072001300209072001200222072001600234072002100250072002100271072001800292100002100310245007600331250000600407260003200413300001000445520148500455113878944520250317100354.0250312042014GB        50           eng    a9781138789449  bTaylor & FranciscGBP 55.99fBB  a01  aeng7 aJB2thema7 aGTM2thema7 aJP2thema7 a1FBN2bisac7 aJF2bic7 aGTB2bic7 aJP2bic7 a1FBN2bisac7 aHIS0260002bisac7 aSOC0530002bisac7 a955.722bisac1 aSetrag Manoukian10aCity of Knowledge in Twentieth Century IranbShiraz, History and Poetry  a1  aOxfordbRoutledgec20140321  a260 p  bThis book presents a cultural history of modern Iran from the point of view of Shiraz, a city famous for its poetry and its traditions of scholarship. Exploring the relationship among history, poetry and politics, the book analyses how Shiraz came to be defined as the country’s cultural capital, and explains how Iranians have used the concept of culture as a way of thinking about themselves, their past and their relationship with the rest of the world. Weaving together a theoretical approach with extensive ethnographic research, the book suggests a model to integrate broad concerns with a nuanced analysis of Iran’s cultural traditions and practices. The author’s interdisciplinary approach sheds light on how contemporary Iranians relate to classical Persian poetry; on the relationship between expressive forms and the political imagination; and on the different ways teachers, professors, cultural managers, poets and scholars think and work. He describes how history and poetry are the two dominant modes to talk about the past, present and future of the town and demonstrates that the question of knowledge is crucial to an understanding of the political and existential dimensions of life in Iran today. This book will be a major contribution to the current effort to move away from nationalist views of Iranian history and culture, and as such will be of great interest to scholars of cultural anthropology, history, Middle Eastern studies and Iranian studies.