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The Iranian Studies Initiative at UCSB and Farhang Foundation invite you to

The Role of Critical Literature

in Reflecting the Socio-Political Issues of the Qajar and the Caucasus

a free live lecture event by Dr. Teoman Aktan

The talk will be followed by a discussion and Q&A session moderated by Dr. Shiva Balaghi

This event is a part of a lecture series on
Iranian Art and Literary Exchange Between Iran, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and Russia in the 20th Century.
This series is co-organized by the Graduate Center for Literary Research, University of California, Santa Barbara and with the support of the Gramian-Emrani Foundation and Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Funds. 

Significant cultural changes occurred in the Caucasus under the influence of socio-economic changes in Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The formation of the national bourgeoisie in Azerbaijan and the emergence of the local intelligentsia gave a great impetus to the social changes in the region. The leading intellectuals of this period such as Alimardan Topchubashov, Jalil Mohammad Gholizadeh, Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, Nasib Yusifbeyli, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, and Ahmet Bey Ağayev began to deal with not only their own region but also the sociocultural and political subjects of Qajar and Ottoman geography. The reflection of these issues to literature, especially during Iran's Constitutional Revolution of 1906, created the common experience of the Azerbaijani and Iranian intellectuals and enabled them to interact with each other.

In this presentation, first the literary works of Jalil Mohammad Gholizadeh and Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh in relation to Iran will be discussed and then the mutual literary interaction of Iran and the South Caucasus region, in the light of their works will be investigated.

About Dr. Teoman Aktan

Teoman Aktan obtained his PhD in Political Science from the University of Istanbul. Currently he is working with the Istanbul Center for Behavior Research and Therapy, The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, the United Nations, and the Human Resource Development Foundation.