Interactions Between Iranian and American Literatures

Strange Affinity

Naghmeh Esmaeilpour

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English

Routledge
29 August 2025

Literary studies: from c 1900 -; Regional studies

Series: Iranian Studies

Introducing ""narrative mobility"" as a new approach in comparative studies of Iran and the US, this book reinterprets the politics and aesthetics of relations between the nations through an analysis of Iranian and American authors.

The book focuses specifically on three authors—Simin Daneshvar, Shahriar Mandanipour, and Don DeLillo—who each employ narrative mobility to rethink intercultural negotiation, addressing parallel issues in America and Iran from different, but complementary, perspectives. The book analyzes the employment of parallel narrational techniques, presenting physically and virtually mobile characters who embody their respective countries as they move from one culture to another. The strange affinity between Iran and the US is ultimately revealed by viewing literary works as a ""contact zone"" through which the complicated relations and shared history of the two nations can be renegotiated. On a more theoretical level, the book reflects on the role of literature—in particular the novel as a transnational medium—as a bridge between nations in a period of globalization.

With its focus on cross-cultural connections, the book will be of interest to anyone studying or researching comparative literature, US–Iran relations, and cultural studies generally.

By: Naghmeh Esmaeilpour
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9781032449616
ISBN 10: 1032449616
Series: Iranian Studies
Pages: 196
Publication Date: 29 August 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. At the Entrance to the Story 2. Narrative Mobility: Exchange across the Borders of Nations and Cultures 3. Physical Mobility as the Circulation of People from Different Worlds 4. The Otherworld of What Was Known and Lost (Historia-Political Narrative and Virtual/Imaginative Mobility) 5. The Storytellers of One Thousand and One Night (Cultural Narrative and Virtual/Imaginative Mobility) 6. The Vulgar Face of a Lost System (Economic Narrative and Virtual/Imaginative Mobility) 7. Strange Affinity: The Historical Irony of Cultural Circulation Between Iran and the US

Naghmeh Esmaeilpour received her PhD in Comparative Literature at Humboldt University, Berlin. She has published articles in Bloomsbury’s World Literature Series and in U.S. American Culture as Popular Culture. Her research areas include comparative literature, (global) media culture, trans/intermediality, film, game, and narrative studies.

Reviews for Interactions Between Iranian and American Literatures: Strange Affinity

""Written against the backdrop of decades of political hostility between Iran and the US, this study breaks new ground by highlighting convergences of views between American and Iranian writers. In the rich cultural arena Naghmeh Esmaeilpour offers her readers, the seemingly insurmountable divides between the two nations are bridged and overcome."" Nasrin Rahimieh, University of California, Irvine, United States ""Naghmeh Esmaeilpour presents a great scholarly feat here and a true celebration of comparative literature in its finest form. This is a unique incitement for cultural dialogue and understanding between Iran and the United States."" Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, SOAS University of London, United Kingdom ""This book focuses on an astonishing topic with astonishing results: the peculiar mixture of love and hate between Iranian and American literatures."" Joseph Vogl, Professor of Modern German Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany