The reasons and context of the influence of the French language in Iran during the Qajar period (before constitutionalism)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jor.2024.367363.2471

Abstract

Translation is one of the most important manifestations of scientific and cultural interaction between ethnic groups and nations, and literary translation is one of the bases for the transfer of ideas and literary creations from one language to another. Studying the history of translation not only helps to identify mutual literary influences, but also can show new dimensions of the social history of any society.

In the history of translation into Persian, the Qajar period is particularly important, and the roots of modern literary translation in Iran are found in this period. In the Qajar era, new approaches and new movements and institutions were formed in the field of translation. In the field of literary translation, the source text of a large part of the literary works translated in the Qajar period was in French, and this language was the most influential new foreign language in Iran at that time.

The aim of this research is to analyze the reasons of the spread of the French language in the Qajar period, before constitutionalism. The politics and culture of France in the 19th century, the special characteristics of the history of the relationship between Iran and France, the characteristics and functions of the French language, as well as the tendency of the Qajar nobility and elites to learn this language and the role of institutions such as the Dar ul-Funun school, French schools and Dar ul-Tarjume Naseri will yield important perspectives to this research.

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References

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Research in Contemporary World Literature
Volume 30, Issue 1
March 2025
Pages 87-109

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