Humour in Iran: Eleven-Hundred Years of Satire and Humour in Persian Literature

Satire, irony and humour have long been features of Persian literature’s rich tradition, taking various forms from the coarse and obscene to the subtle and refined.

Humour in Iran is a close and comprehensive study of satire and humour - in verse as well as prose - over the eleven-hundred years since the emergence of classical Persian literature. Combining Persian original texts with their English translations, it covers a range of texts and authors, from the lampoon in Ferdowsi’s great epic of the ancient kings in the tenth century, through such master satirists as Obeyd Zakani, Sa’di, Rumi, Khayyam, Hafiz, Anvari, Sana’i, Khaqani, Suzani, Qa’ani, Yaghma, and so on. The book also includes twentieth century authors such as Iraj, Dehkhoda, Bahar, Eshqi, Aref, Hedayat, Jamalzadeh, Al-e Ahmad and more.

A must read for scholars and students of humour and satire as well as Persian literature and Middle Eastern studies, and it will also appeal to general readers interested in ribald humour and satire.

Homa Katouzian is the Roshan Cultural Institute Academic Visitor in Iranian Studies, St Antony’s College, and Member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford. His recent books include Khalil Maleki, The Human Face of Iranian Socialism (2018); Sa’di in Love: An Anthology of Sa’di’s love lyrics in Persian and English (I.B.Tauris, 2016); Iran: Politics, History and Literature (2013); Iran: A Beginners’ Guide (2013).