The Role of Translation in the Revival of Prose Shāhnāmeh Books in the 9th and 10th Centuries

Abstract

Shāhnāmeh books realize the epic poetry in Persian culture whose history dates back to the time of the Achaemenids. In the 9^th and 10^th centuries that the Persian culture reinvigorated after the Arab invasion, prose and poetry Shāhnāmeh books were revived in Persian. In order to compose prose Shāhnāmeh books, the Persian elite had no choice but translating the Pahlavi versions into Persian. Moreover, some of the Arabic versions of Khwatāy Nāmag books already translated from Pahlavi, were translated into Persian as another source to recompose prose Shāhnāmeh books by the writers who were patronized by the political elite. The Persian cultural products and capitals were sponsored since they could be converted to symbolic capital and political power in the field- according to Bourdieu’s terminology. The Introduction of Abū-Mansūrī Shāhnāmeh as one of the oldest texts in Persian -narrates how it was composed through translation from Pahlavi by four translators. It exemplifies the role that translation from Pahlavi and Arabic into Persian had in the revival of prose Shāhnāmeh books in the 9^th and 10^th centuries.