Paul Sprachman

Current projects:

• Licensed Fool: The Life and Works of Obayd-e Zakani

Recent Works:

• Chess with the Doomsday Machine by Habib Ahmadzadeh, translated by Paul Sprachman, Mazda Publishers, 2007.
  

• Journey to Heading 270 Degrees by Ahmad Dehqan and Paul Sprachman (Translator), Mazda Publishers, 2006.
  

• A Man of Many Worlds by Cyrus Ghani (Editor) and Paul Sprachman (Translator), Mage Publishers, 2005.
  A translation of the memoirs of Dr. Qasem Ghani, the Iranian representative to the convening session of the United Nations, the ambassador to Turkey and Egypt in the 1930s and 1940s.
  

• Language and Culture in Persian Mazda Publishers, 2002 Language and Culture in Persian lies at the intersection of what we ordinarily associate with language learning, standard vocabulary, idiom, grammar, etc. and a set of shared assumptions about the world that we call culture. The book is about what readers of Persian know but rarely express. It asks the question: What understandings do readers share that enable them to comprehend skillful writing in the language? Common sense of this sort comes in two ways: (1) explicitly in the form of the alphabet, morphology, syntax, punctuation, and other obvious aspects of writing, and (2) implicitly in the form of a shared set of basic facts and ideas that allows readers to construct the meanings of texts. You can find out more about this book by clicking HERE
  

• Suppressed Persian Mazda Publishers, 1995. A translation of Persian literature which has been suppressed over the centuries. This volume is an anthology of selected pieces of poetry and prose that deeply offend long-established standards of good taste and morality in Iran. It presents unprintables from the works of eight of the most important writers of Persian literature. These include, Sanai of Ghazni (12th century), Jalal al-Din Rumi (13th century), Suzani of Samarkand (12th Century) Obayd-e Zakani (14th century), Sadi of Shiraz (13th century). The anthology also contains off-color quatrains by a contemporary of Omar Khayyam, the poetess Mahsati of Ganja, and an epic invective by the modern poet Iraj Mirza (d. 1926). You can find a description of it by clicking HERE .
  
• I have also written a book about symbolism and Chinese characters in the paintings of Dorothy Yung: Dorothy Yung, Recent Works 3-18 March, 1995

• I am a regular contributor of articles and book reviews to Iran Shenasi, A Journal of Iranian Studies.

1. Translating Rushdie's The Satanic Verses in Iran, Vol. XIV, No. 4, Winter 2003, pp. 810-822
   
2. Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey through the Islamic Republic of Iran, Book Review, Vo. XIII, No. 4, Winter 2002, pp. 902-905
   The above paper in printable JPEG format.
   
3. Choreophobia: Solo Improvised Dance in the Iranian World, Book Review, Vol. XII, No. 2, Summer 2000, pp. 448-453.
   
4. Cup of Sin: Selected Poems, Book Review. Vol. XI, No. 4, Winter 2000, pp. 918-921
   
5. Memoirs of Prince Hamid Kadjar: Son of the Last Qajar Crown Prince, Book Review, Vol. IX, No. 3, Autumn 1997, pp. 565-569.
   
6. Naming Nezami, Vol. III, No. 4, Winter 1992, pp. 759-764
   
7. Satirical Book Reviewing, Vol. I, No. 1, Spring 1989, pp. 122-126
   

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   Courses:

   An older version:
   

   • MODERN MIDDLE EASTERN LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION

     Current Version:
     Spring 2010: 01:013:301 section 02

     Survey of Persian Literatures in Translation
     The course considers in English translation modern Persian literature from its beginnings in the early 20th century to the post-Iranian Revolutionary period. Readings are by authors living in Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan as well by those living outside of those countries. Participants examine and analyze poetry by Nima, Shamlu, Farrokhzad, Behbehani, Omid and prose by Ayni, Jamalzadeh, Hedayat, Al-e Ahmad, Golshiri, Golestan, Ma'rufi, Amirshahy, Ahmadzadeh. Some of the basic themes found in the literature are: modernity and Westernization; religious revivalism; war and revolution; estrangement and exile; untranslatability. All texts are presented in English translation; no knowledge of Persian required.

     
     

   • 013:177 Elementary Persian

   • 013:277 Intermediate Persian

   • 013:377 Advanced Persian

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   Travels

   My wife, Susan, and I lived in Ghazni, Afghanistan from 1969 to 1971, in Tehran from 1974-1975, and Isfahan from 1975-1978. We have also traveled extensively in Morocco and India. To see selected pictures from these trips, go to "Years off the Beaten Path". During a trip from Shimla to Leh, I wrote the attached poem. The picture below shows Isaac and Paul on the road. Take a look at other pictures.

   

   ISAC ZAL (Isaac Zal Sprachman)

   My son, Isaac, is an accomplished metal sculptor, instrument maker, and sound sculptor who lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit his web site. Isaac's business is 4th State Metals.

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   Paul Sprachman (sprachma@rci.rutgers.edu)
   B-304 Lucy Stone Hall, Livingston Campus
   Rutgers University
   Updated Sept. 11, 2006