Persian literature is the jewel in the crown of Persian culture. It has profoundly influenced the literatures of Ottoman Turkey, Muslim India and Turkic Central Asia. It has been a source of inspiration for Goethe, Emerson, Matthew Arnold and Jorge Luis Borges among others, and praised by William Jones, Tagore, E.M. Forster and many more. Yet Persian literature has never received the attention it merits. Whereas Persian art and architecture, and more recently Iranian cinema, have been written about extensively and at different levels for a varied audience, Persian literature ù the greatest achievement of the Iranian people, and one of the major literatures of the world ù has largely remained the exclusive domain of specialists. And although in the past few years the poems of Rumi have attracted the kind of popular attention enjoyed by Omar Khayyam's quatrains in the 19th century, Persian literature has never received the attention it truly deserves.<BR><BR>A History of Persian Literature responds to this need and offers a new, comprehensive and detailed history of its subject. This multi-volume, authoritative survey reflects the stature and significance of Persian literature as the single most important accomplishment of the Iranian nation. Prominent scholars in the field bring a fresh critical approach to bear on this important topic and each volume includes representative samples of this literature.<BR><BR>This companion volume deals with two of the most under-researched areas of study in the Modern Iranian field: the Persian oral and popular literature of Iran, Tajikistan and Persian-speaking Afghanistan on the one hand; and the written and oral literatures of the Kurds, Pashtuns, Baloch and Ossetians on the other.<BR><BR>Drawing together original and ground-breaking contributions by leading experts, this volume will facilitate and stimulate further research and be an indispensable source for these literary traditions as well as an invaluable guide to the subject. In line with the latest academic thinking, the authors will reflect the modern scholarly emphasis away from an exclusive preoccupation with the 'high' literature of dominant cultures towards a more inclusive view of the concept of culture. This definitive study will offer the reader new insights into the complexity and variety of the literatures of the Iranian-speaking peoples.<BR><BR>Philip G. Kreyenbroek is Professor of Iranian Studies at Georg-August University, Gottingen, Germany, and Director of the 'Seminar on Iranian Studies'. His publications include Srao'a in the 4roastrian Tradition and Yezidism: Its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition.<BR><BR>Ulrich Marzolph is Professor of Islamic Studies at Georg-August University, Gottingen, Germany, and a senior member of the editorial committee of the Encyclopaedia of Fairy Tales. He has published widely on the narrative culture of the Islamic Near and Middle East, particularly those aspects relating to classical and modern folktales as well as jokes and anecdotes in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish.<BR><BR>General Editor for A History of Persian Literature, Ehsan Yarshater is the Director of the Center for Iranian Studies and Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies, Columbia University and the Founding Editor of the Encyclopaedia Iranica. Among his publications are Persian Poetry Under Shahrokh, Myths and Legends of Ancient Iran (both in Persian), A Grammar of Southern Tati Dialects and Persian Presence in the Islamic World. Among the books he has edited are Highlights of Persian Art (with R. Ettinghausen), the Cambridge History of Iran Volume 3 (in two parts) and Persian Literature. He is the general editor of the annotated translation of Tabari's History (40 volumes) and the founding general editor of the Persian Heritage Series, Persian Studies Series and Modern Persian Literature Series.