Plays and Films of Bahram Beyzaie

Saeed Talajooy is a Senior Lecturer in Persian at the University of St Andrews, UK. Talajooy has taught world literature since 1997 and Persian language, literature, drama and cinema since 2008. His research is focused on the changing patterns of the modalities of Iranian identity as reflected in Iranian theatre, cinema and literature. His publications include several articles, chapters, play translations and analysis books, a co-edited volume entitled Resistance in Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies: Literature, Cinema and Music (2012), and a recent monograph entitled Iranian Culture in Bahram Beyzaie’s Cinema and Theatre (I.B.Tauris, 2023).

• Chapter 1Bahram Beyzaie: A Critical Introduction (Saeed Talajooy, University of St Andrews, UK)Chapter 2The Genealogy of Arash, A Hero: from Naqqali to Beyzaie’s Recitation Plays and from Arash The Mythical Hero to Beyzaie’s Marginalized Arash (Saeed Talajooy)Chapter 3A Pahlevan’s Dreams of Belonging: Reconfiguration of The Ideals of Heroism in Bahram Beyzaie’s So Dies Pahlevan Akbar (Saeed Talajooy)Chapter 4The Challenges of Centre and Margin: Beyzaie’s Cooperation with The Institute for The Intellectual Development of Children And Young Adults for Uncle Moustache, Journey, And Bashu, The Little Stranger (Amir-Hosein Siadat, Curator of the Art and Experience of Cinema, Tehran, Iran)Chapter 5The Language of Nature and Earth: An Ecocritical Reading of Stranger and The Fog, Ballad of Tara, and Bashu, The Little Stranger (Fatemeh-Mehr Khansalar, Independent Scholar, UK) Chapter 6Bashu’s Other Names: A Study of Bashu’s Identity in Bashu, The Little Stranger (Naghmeh Samini, Assistant Professor of Dramatic Arts, University of Tehran, Iran, and Affiliate Assistant Professor, University of Washington, USA)Chapter 7The Cinematic Translation of Ta?ziyeh in Beyzaie’s Travellers (Farshad Zaehdi, Senior Lecturer, University Carlos III de Madrid, Spain)Chapter 8Crime Thriller Elements in Bahram Beyzaie’s Films (Parviz Jahed, University of St Andrews, UK)Chapter 9Multilinguality in Iranian Cinema: A Comparative Analysis (Saeed Zeydabadi-Nejad, Lecturer of Media and Film, SOAS, University of London, UK)Chapter 10Little Strangers: Representations of Displaced Youth in Iranian New Wave Cinema (Nina Khamsy, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland)

This remarkable collection brings together essays from artists, filmmakers, writers, and emerging and established scholars who provide a wide-ranging analysis of the works of the prominent Iranian playwright and film director Bahram Beyzaie. The chapters neatly work together to show the importance of Bayzaie’s plays and films in making cultural modernity in its distinct Iranian expression.