Nasrin Rahimieh

Picture of Nasrin Rahimieh
Associate Dean for Personnel
School of Humanities
Chair (2016-19), Comparative Literature
School of Humanities
Director (2006-2014), Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture
School of Humanities
Humanities Core Program (2019-2022)
Ph.D., University of Alberta, 1988, Comparative Literature
Phone: (949) 824-0406
Email: nasrin.rahimieh@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
1349 Humanities Gateway Building
Mail Code: 2651
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Modern Persian Literature, Iranian Diaspora, Women's Writing
Academic Distinctions
University of Alberta, Faculty of Arts Undergraduate Teaching Award 2000
Appointments
McMaster University, 2003-2006
University of Alberta, 1989-2003
Research Abstract
Dr. Rahimieh’s research has focused on intercultural encounters between Iran and the West, modern Persian literature, literature of exile and displacement, women’s writing, and post-revolutionary Iranian cinema. Her publications include Oriental Responses to the West: Comparative Essays on Muslim Writers from the Middle East (Brill, 1990) and Missing Persians: Discovering Voices in Iranian Cultural Heritage (Syracuse University Press, 2001). Her reviews and articles have appeared in Iranian Studies, Comparative Literature Studies, Iran Nameh, The Middle East Journal, The Comparatist, Thamyris, Edebiyat, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Canadian Literature, and New Comparison.
Publications
Books Authored

Iranian Culture: Representation and Identity. (pp. 166). New York: Routledge, 2015.

Missing Persians: Discovering Voices in Iranian Cultural Heritage. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2001.

Oriental Responses to the West: Comparative Essays in Select Writers from the Muslim World. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990.

Books Edited

Co-edited with Brookshaw, Forugh Farrokhzad: Iconic Woman and Feminine Pioneer of New Persian Poetry. London: I B Tauris, 2010.

Ed. Azray-e Khalvat neshin. Bethesda, Maryland: Ibex, 2010. (Persian original of the late Taghi Modarressi's last novel)

Ed. Savushun. Washington DC: Mage Publishers, 1990. (Savushun is M. R. Ghanoonparvar's English translation of a novel by Simin Daneshvar).

Book Chapters

“The Languages of Comparison,” Comparative Literature in Canada: Contemporary Scholarship, Pedagogy, and Publishing in Review, eds. Susan Ingram and Irene Sywensky, Lanham, Boulder, New York, London: Lexington Books, 2020: 71-82.

“Four Iterations of Persian Literary Nationalism.” In Constructing Nationalism in Iran: From the Qajars to the Islamic Republic. Ed. Meir Litvak. New York: Routledge, 2017: 40-55.

“Playing Hat Tricks with History.” In Bright Diversities of Day: Essays on Persian Literature and Culture in Honor of M.R. Ghanoonparvar. Ed. Faridoun Farrokh. Costa Mesa, California, Mazda, 2017:101-111.

“Armenians in Iran, or the Limits of Cosmopolitanism.” In Iranian Identity and Cosmopolitanism: Spheres of Belonging. Ed. Lucian Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 201: 419-29

“Flights From History: Gina Barkhordar Nahai and Dalia Sofer's Fiction.” In The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion, and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World. Ed. Houman Sarshar. London: I B Tauris. 2014: 203-219.

With Sharareh Frouzesh “Articulations of Resistance in Modern Persian Literature. In Resistance in Contemporary Middle Eastern Cultures: Literature, Cinema, and Music. New York: Routledge, 2013: 79-97.

“Reflections of the Cold War in Modern Persian Literature.” In Global Cold War Literature: Western, Eastern and Postcolonial Perspectives. Ed. A. Hammond. New York: Routledge, 2012: 87-99.

“Translating Taghi Modarressi's Writing with an Accent.” In Iranian Languages and Culture: Essays in Honor of Gernot Ludwig Windfuhr. Eds. Behrad Aghaei and M.R. Ghanoonparvar. Costa Mesa: Mazda, 2012: 110-125.

“Capturing the Abject of the Nation in The House is Black.” In Forugh Farrokhzad, Poet of Modern Iran: Iconic Woman and Feminine Pioneer of New Persian Poetry. Ed. Dominic Brookshaw and Nasrin Rahimieh. London: I B Tauris, 2010: 125-136.

“Persian Incursions: The Transnational Dynamics of Persian Literature.” In A Companion to Comparative literature. Eds. Dominic Thomas and Ali Behdad. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011: 296-311.

“Hedayat’s Translations of Kafka and the Logic of Iranian Modernity.” In Sadeq Hedayat: His Work and His Wondrous World. Ed. Homa Katouzian. London: Routledge: 2008: 124-135.

“Manifestations of Diversity and Alterity in the Persian Literary Idiom.” In Critical Encounters: Essays on Persian Literature and Culture in Honor of Peter J. Chelkowski. Eds. M. Khorrami, and M. M., Ghanoonparvar. Costa Mesa: Mazda, 2007: 21-35.

“Marking Gender and Difference in the Myth of the Nation: A Post-Revolutionary Iranian Film.” In The New Iranian Cinema: Politics, Representation and Identity. Ed. Richard Tapper. London: I. B. Tauris: 2002: 238-253. (revised reprint of article published in Thamyris).

“Refocusing Alloula's Gaze: A Feminist Reading of The Colonial Harem.” In Atlantic Cross-Currents: Transatlantiques. Eds. S.Z. Andrade, E. Julien, and M. Songolo. Trenton: Africa World Press, 2001: 91-100.

“Deterritorialization or Internationalization: Three Writers from the Middle East.” In Language and Literature Today: Proceedings of the XIXth Triennial Congress of the International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures Vol. II. Ed. N. Faria. Universidade de Brasillia,1996: 521-526.

“Iranian-American Literature.” In New Immigrant Literatures of the United States: A Sourcebook Ed. A. S. Knippling. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1996: 109-124.

“Mediators of Myth: The Role of Women in The Submarinians” (in Persian). In Proceedings of the 1992 Iranian Women's Studies Foundation Conference. Ed. H. Sarshar. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Iranian Women's Studies Foundation, 1993: 87-102.

“Beneath the Veil: The Revolution in Iranian Women's Writing.” In Literature and the Body. Ed. A. Purdy. Rodopi Perspectives on Modern Literature, 7) Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1992: 95-115.

“Naïm Kattan, le discours arabe, and Empty Words.” In Proceedings of the 4th Conference organized by the Research Institute for Comparative Literature as part of the project The History of the Literary Institution in Canada: Literatures of Lesser Diffusion. Ed. J. Pivato. Edmonton: Research Institute for Comparative Literature, 1990: 183-90.

“Grimus: Salman Rushdie's First Experiment with Postmodernist Narrative.” In Literature and Commitment. Ed. G. N. Sharma. Toronto: TSAR, 1988: 116-124.

“The Juxtaposition of Orient and Occident in Modern Eastern Fiction.” In Proceedings of the XIIth Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association (Vol. 2,). Ed. R. Bauer. Munich: Iudicum, 1988: 19-24.

Journal Articles

“Divorce Seen through Women's Cinematic Lens. Iranian Studies,” 42.1 (2009): 97-112.

“Border Crossing.” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 27.2 (2007): 225-32.

“Overcoming the Orientalist Legacy of Iranian Modernity.” Thamyris/ Intersecting, No. 10 (2003): 147-63.

“Capturing Cultural Transformation on Film: Makhmalbaf’s A Moment of Innocence.” Edebiyat, 12 (2001): 195-214.

“Takvin-i huviyatti tazih: tajrubih-i yik diplumat-i irani dar urupa” [Constituting a New Identity: The Experiences of an Iranian Diplomat in Europe] (in Persian). Iran Nameh, 18.4 (2000): 387-400.

“Framing Iran: A Contrapuntal Reading of Two Cinematic Representations of Post-Revolutionary Iran.” Edebiyat, 9 (1998): 249-75.

“Introduction.” Nimeye Digar, 11.4 (1998): 3-16. (Special Issue on contemporary Iranian women's writing).

“Marking Gender and Difference in the Myth of a Nation: Bashu, a Post-Revolutionary Iranian Film.” Thamyris, 3.2 (1996): 261-77.

“Die Verwandlung Deterritorialized: Hedayat's Appropriation of Kafka.” Comparative Literature Studies, 31.3 (1994): 251-69.

“How To Be Persian Abroad (in Persian).” Iran Nameh, 12.4 (1994): 641-48.

“Sadeq Chubak dar adabiyat-e jahan. Daftar-e Honar,” 2.3 (1994): 252-54.

“Hedayat's Metamorphosis of 'The Metamorphosis" (in Persian). Iran Nameh No. 3 (1992): 597-608.

“Scheherazade in Exile: Iranian Women Writers Abroad.” North Atlantic Review No. 4 (1992): 36-47.

“The Enigma of Persian Modernism.” New Comparison No. 13 (1992): 39-45.

“The Quince Orange Tree, or Iranian Writers in Exile.” World Literature Today, 66.1 (1992): 39-42.

“Magical Realism in Moniru Ravanipur's Ahl e gharq.” Iranian Studies, 23.1-4 (1990): 61-75.

“A Systemic Approach to Modern Persian Prose Fiction.” World Literature Today, 63 (1989): 15-19.

“Khatibi on Orientalism.” Revue Celfan Review, 8.2 (1989): 13-15.

“The Image of the West in Three North African Texts.” The Comparatist, 13 (1998): 90-97.

“Dualism in the Role of Women: A Reading of Bapsi Sidhwa's The Crow Eaters.” Chimo (1987):12-20.

“Naïm Kattan, le discours arabe, and his Place in the Canadian Literary Discourse.” Canadian Literature No. 127 (1990): 32-8.
Grants
Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada Standard Research Grant, Life Writing by Iranian Women, $54,454 (2003-2006)
Professional Societies
Past-President, International Society for Iranian Studies
Middle East Studies Association of North America
Canadian Comparative Litertaure Association
American Comparative Literature Association
Modern Language Association
Other Experience
Dean
School of Humanities, McMaster University 2003—2006
Last updated
08/11/2023