Dr Zahra Taheri
Areas of expertise
- Language Studies 2003
- Cultural Studies 2002
- Literary Studies 2005
Research interests
1. Persian Language, Literature, and Culture.
2. Sufism.
3. Women Studies:
Women in Persian Literature, Sufi Texts, Ethical text.
Women in Oral and Folk Literature.
4. Modern Persian literature.
Biography
Dr Taheri was born and raised in Shiraz, and studied classical and contemporary Persian literature in Iran at Pahlavi (Shiraz) University, and received her Master's degree in Persian studies from the Pajuheshkade-ye Farhang-e Iran, and her PH.D from the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University Of California, Berkeley.
During the last two decades she has taught Persian literature, language, Iranian history and culture, and Gender and culture courses in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley (USA), the Department of Persian Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan), and Australasian National University (australai).
Her first book, Hozur-e peyda va penhan-e zan dar mutun-e sufiyyeh was published by the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies /Japan
in 2007. The second edition of this book was published in Iran in 2011. Her Second book "The Silence of Old Mirrors: The Lost Voice of a Muslim Woman in the Constitutional Revolution Era, the life and works of ‘Alamtaj Qaem-Maqami" was translated into Japanese and published in Tokyo in 2012. The Persian version of this book "Sokut-e Kohan-e 'Ayene-haa" was published in 2016 by Nashr-e Sales in Iran. She is currently working on her upcoming book on "The Image of Women in Persian Ethical Texts.” This research project received a fellowship from the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford in 2016-2017.
Taheri is also a published poet with two collections of poetry: Milad and Pegaah-e Nokhostin. Her third poetry book "Daaman be Khaak Mikeshad Maah" is in the process of publishing by “Nashr-e Sales” in Iran.
Researcher's projects
1. " The Image of women in Persian Ethical Literature." This reserch project has received the Bahari Visiting Fellowship in Persian Arts of book, from Oxford University. 2016-2017.
2. “Countless Images of Human Beings in Classical Persian Literature: The Case of Attar,” group projects. Department of Persian Language and Literature, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo. 2013-2015
3. “Women and Narration: Gendered Narratives in Oral and Written Persian Literature,” Research Institute for World Languages, Osaka University, Osaka. 2008-2010.
4. “Sam’ani’s Rawh al-Arwah and Baha’ Walad’s Mu’arif”, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo. 2008-2010.
5. “A Study on the Rhythmical Construction of the Hindi and Urdu Meters and its Origin in Persian Prosody,” Research Institute for World Languages, Osaka University, Osaka. (2008)
6. “Studies on the Mystical Interpretation of the Quran in the Third Section (al-Nawbat al-Thalithah) of Meybudi’s Kashf al-Asrar,” Department of Persian Language and Literature Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo. 2004-2006
Publications
- Taheri, Z 2016, Sokut-e Kohan-e Ayeneha: Alamtaj Ghaem-Maghami's Life and Poetry, Nashr-e Sales, Tehran, Iran.
- Taheri, Z 2013, ''Women in Rumi's Spiritual Circle'', The La Trobe Journal, The State Library of Victoria foundation, Melbourne, vol. No. 91, no. June, pp. 46-55.
- Taheri, Z 2012, 'Khaksar: Wandering Dervishes', in Ehsan Yarshater and Ahmad Ashraf (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, Columbia University, United States of America, pp. 356-359pp.
- Taheri, Z 2012, The Silence of Old Mirrors: The Lost Voice of a Muslim Woman in the Constitutional Period, Michitani Publishing, Tokyo Japan.
- "Meter in Classical Persian Narrative Poetry", Indian and Persian Prosody and Recitation,edited by HIROKO NAGASAKI, Saujanya Publications, pp. 45-58. Delhi 2012,
- Taheri, Z 2012, The Silence of Old Mirrors: The Lost Voice of a Muslim Woman in the Constitutional Period (Alamtaj Qaem-maqami),Translated into Japanese by Naho Nakamura and Shuri Suzuki, Michitani Publishing Co., Tokyo, April 2012.
- Taheri, Z 2011, "She'r-e shafahi-ye zanan (Persian women's oral poetry), Research Results for the project "Women and Narration: Gendered Narratives in Oral and Written Persian Literature," ed. Yoko Fujimoto, Research Institute for World Languages, Osaka University, March 2011, pp. 71-91.
- Taheri, Z. 2011, Hozur-e peyda va penhan-e zan dar mutun-e sufiyyeh (The Absence and Presence of Women in Persian Sufi Texts), second edition, Nashr-e Sales, Tehran, Iran, 2011.
- Khaksar, 'Wandering Dervishes' (Kaksar), Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University, New York, Vol. XV, Fascicle 4, 2010, pp. 356-359.
- Taheri, Z 2008, 'Linguistic Interference: The Structure of Replying to Negative Questions in Persian and Japanese', in (ed.), Japanese Studies Around the World 2007: Rethinking communication, International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan, pp. 33-50.
- Taheri, Z 2007, 'Zanan va ta'alim-e sufiyeh dar tarighat-e Mawlana [part 1] (Women in Rumi�??s spiritual circle),', Iranshenasi; A journal of Iranian Studies (email to editor 19/7/11)MR, vol. XIV, no. 4, pp. 559-612.
- Taheri, Z 2008, 'Zanan va ta'alim-e sufiyeh dar tarighat-e Mawlana [part 2] (Women in Rumi�??s spiritual circle),', Iranshenasi; A journal of Iranian Studies (email to editor 19/7/11)MR, vol. XX, no. No 1 Spring 2008, pp. 66-90.
- Taheri, Z 2008, 'Zanan va ta'alim-e sufiyeh dar tarighat-e Mawlana [part 3] (Women in Rumi�??s spiritual circle),', Iranshenasi; A journal of Iranian Studies (email to editor 19/7/11)MR, vol. XX, no. 2, pp. 238-256.
- Taheri, Z. 2008, 'Zanan va taalim-e sufiyeh dar tariqat-e Mawlana [part 4] (Women in Rumi's spiritual circle)', Iranshenasi, A journal of Iranian Studies, vol. XX, no. No. 3, Fall 2008,, pp. pp. 454-473..
- Taheri, Z 2007, 'Daftar-e aql va ayat-e eshgh (Women in Hadith and Mysticism from the 11th to 13th Century)', Iranshenasi; A journal of Iranian Studies, vol. XVIII, no. 4, pp. 605-621.
- Taheri, Z 2007, 'Osturye afarinesh-e ensan be ravayat-e Meybodi (The Third Time: The Story of Creation according to Meybodi)', Iranshenasi; A journal of Iranian Studies, vol. XIV, no. 2 Summer 2007, pp. 217-240.
- Taheri, Z 2007, "Karamat-e zanan-e sufi dar afsaneha-ye moridan" (Sufi women's miracles in spiritual folk tales),', Rahavard Persian Journal: A Persian Journal of Iranian Studies, vol. 85, no. Winter, pp. 52-62.
- Taheri, Z. 2007, Hozur-e peyda va penhan-e zan dar mutun-e sufiyyeh (The Absence and Presence of Women in Persian Sufi Texts), first edition, The Institute of Asian and African Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan, 2007.
- Taheri, Z 2006, 'Taswir-e vajgune-ye zan dar Hobut (The perverse Picture of Woman in the Fall: Examining Women's Characteristics in the Book Nasihat al-Muluk)', Iranshenasi; A journal of Iranian Studies, vol. XVII, no. 3, pp. 673-695.
- Taheri, Z 2005, 'Az zahed-sufiyan-e Bayn al-Nahrayn ta sufiyan-e Khorasan (From the Ascetics of Mesopotamia to The Sufis of Khorasan: Sufi women in the early Islamic period)', Philosophy and Literature, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 18-37.
- Taheri, Z 2005, "Na bestord dasti dar in rah ghobaram" (No one ever wiped the dust off my face: reviewing the critical writings on the poetry of Alamtaj Qaem-Maqami)', The Persian Book Review, A quarterly on Arts and Literature, vol. 15, no. 45, pp. 98-113.
