>The Short Story in Iran and the World/ Spring Semester 1392-93/ Instructor: Z. Jannessari Ladani<
The Short Story in Iran and the World: Course Syllabus
I. Course Description: This course will focus on the history and theory of the short story in Iran as well as the
world. Here, we will get familiar with the formation of a literary genre which is labeled as a modern one by
many critics, but to what extent this claim is acceptable will be judged and decided throughout the semester. We
will also discuss the condition of the short story in Iran to see how it developed and contributed to the whole
literary corpus in the world. Alongside these discussions, we will focus on a number of short stories by famous
fiction writers (both Iranian and foreign). The discussion of each short story will include information about its
historical and literary background, its author, the sub-genre and literary movement to which the story belongs.
Finally, this course will consider some essays written on the short story to further our knowledge of this genre as
well as help us decide how to analyze and categorize short stories in class.
II. Bibliography:
A) Stories:
1) Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Rappaccini’s Daughter”
2) Edgar Allan Poe, “The Oval Portriat” & and other stories
3) Anton Chekhov, “The Lady with a Dog” & “Diary of a Madman”
4) Nadine Gordimer, “Once Upon a Time”
5) H. H. Munro, “The Story-Teller” & “The Lumber Room”
6) D. W. Lawrence, “The Odor of Chrysanthumums”
7) Woody Allen, “The Kugelmass Episode”
8) Stanley G. Weinbaum, “The Adaptive Ultimate”
9) Borges, “The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero” & “The Gospel According to St. Mark”
12) Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh, Yeki Bood Yeki Nabood
13) Helen Ouliaeinia, Beshno az Vey Chon Hekayat Mikonad
B) Essays:
1) E. A. Poe, “The Philosophy of Composition”
2) J. C. Lawrence, “The Theory of the Short Story”
3) W. J. Dawson, “The Modern Short Story”
4) W. B. Warde, Jr. “The Short Story: Structure of A New Genre”
5) Hassan Mirabedini, “The Short Story”
III. Assignments & Grades: Students should study the portions and texts that are assigned to them by the
instructor for the following session. Each text or extract should be read before students come to class. Students
will have a final exam on all of the materials taught and discussed in class. This exam will have twenty (20)
points. Each student should give a lecture (of at most 15 mins.) in class on either a short story or an essay. This
will be assigned by the instructor. The lecture will have twenty (5) points. Further, students should submit a
term-paper by the end of the semester. Twenty (20) points will go the paper. Paper topics should be discussed
with the instructor before students decide to write. The paper can be written on any subject except stories
analyzed in class. Students are not allowed to be absent from the class. They will receive one point (+1) for each
presence and a minus (-1) for each absence. More than three (3) sessions of absence will be reported to the
Education Office and the absentee will be deprived of the final exam. All these scores will amount to the final
grade of 60: Lectures (+5) + presence in all sessions (+15) + papers (+20) + final exam (+20) =60. The student’s
final score is one third of this total grade (60/3=20).
IV. Week-by-Week Reading Schedule: Please note that this schedule tells students what they need already to
have read when they sit down in class in each session. Note also that, once in possession of the Schedule, no one
should be in doubt about the assignments.
Week One – Sunday 13 Bahman 1392:
Introduction to the course
Week Two – Sunday 20 Bahman 1392:
Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” & Poe’s “The Philosophy of Composition”
Week Three – Sunday 27 Bahman 1392:
Poe’s “The Oval Portriat” & and other stories [detectives, Dark Romanticism, theory of art and psychoanalysis]
Week Four – Sunday 4 Esfand 1392:
Chekhov’s “The Lady with a Dog” & “Diary of a Madman” & Warde’s “The Short Story: Structure of A New
Genre”
Week Five – Sunday 11 Esfand 1392:
Nadine Gordimer, “Once Upon a Time” [Post-colonialism & Orientalism] & Lawrence’s “The Theory of the
Short Story”
Week Six – Sunday 18 Esfand 1392:
H. H. Munro, “The Story-Teller” & “The Lumber Room” [War and Post-War Era]
Week Seven – Sunday 17 Farvardin 1393:
Lawrence’s “The Odor of Chrysanthumums” [industrialism] & Dawson’s “The Modern Short Story”
Week Eight – Sunday 24 Farvardin 1393:
Weinbaum’s “The Adaptive Ultimate” [science fiction]
Week Nine – Sunday 31 Farvardin 1393:
Allen’s “The Kugelmass Episode” [postmodernism 1]
Week Ten – Sunday 7 Ordibehesht 1393:
Borges, “The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero” & “The Gospel According to St. Mark” [postmodernism 2]
Week Eleven – Sunday 14 Ordibehesht 1393:
Jamalzadeh’s “Farsi Shekar Ast” & Hassan Mirabedini, “The Short Story”
Week Twelve – Sunday 21 Ordibehesht 1393:
Sadegh Hedayat’s “Sage Velgard” & “Se Ghatre Khoon”
Week Thirteen – Sunday 28 Ordibehesht 1393:
Jalal Ale Ahmad “Bacheh Mardom” & “Lak Soorati”
Week Fourteen – Sunday 4 Khordad 1393:
Daneshvar’s “Tileh Shekasteh” & “Mard va Mard”
Week Fifteen – Sunday 11 Khordad 1393:
Shahrnoosh Parsipour’s “Baghe Farrokhlegha” & Mansoor Kooshan’s “Ayeneh Sangi Madarbozorg”
GOODLUCK