Aria Fani, "Reading Across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Literary Nationalism" (U Texas Press, 2024)

Oct 31, 2025

Aria Fani, an associate professor and director of Persian and Iranian Studies at the University of Washington, dives into how Afghans and Iranians developed their national identities through literature. He discusses the evolution of 'literature' in Persian and the crucial role of literary associations and periodicals in this transformation. Fani also tackles the complexities of linguistic nationalism, the impact of exclusionary canon-building, and the ethical dimensions of literature in contemporary contexts, particularly regarding Afghan displacement.

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INSIGHT

Adab To Adabiyat: Conceptual Realignment

Aria Fani argues that the modern Persian concept of adabiyat transformed from plural ethical cultivation (adab) into a singular nationalized “literature.”
This shift recast literature as inheritance tied to a unitary national identity rather than an acquired set of ethical practices.

INSIGHT

Associations Built Modern Literary Institutions

Early 20th-century literary associations and periodicals created the institutional infrastructure for the modern notion of literature.
These civic groups drove transnational exchange even while their outcomes reinforced national canons.

INSIGHT

Different Language Models In Iran And Afghanistan

Comparative study reveals Afghanistan favored bilingual or plural language policies while Iran pursued monolingual nationalism under the Pahlavis.
Iran's monolingual drive imposed Persian and marginalized other vernaculars, producing linguistic trauma.

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The dynamic and interconnected ways Afghans and Iranians invented their modern selves through literature.

Contrary to the presumption that literary nationalism in the Global South emerged through contact with Europe alone, Reading Across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Literary Nationalism (University of Texas Press, 2024) demonstrates how the cultural forms of Iran and Afghanistan as nation-states arose from their shared Persian heritage and cross-cultural exchange in the twentieth century. In this book, Aria Fani charts the individuals, institutions, and conversations that made this exchange possible, detailing the dynamic and interconnected ways Afghans and Iranians invented their modern selves through new ideas about literature.

Fani illustrates how voluntary and state-funded associations of readers helped formulate and propagate "literature" as a recognizable notion, adapting and changing Persian concepts to fit this modern idea. Focusing on early twentieth-century periodicals with readers in Afghan and Iranian cities and their diaspora, Fani exposes how nationalism intensified—rather than severed—cultural contact among two Persian-speaking societies amidst the diverging and competing demands of their respective nation-states. This interconnected history was ultimately forgotten, shaping many of the cultural disputes between Iran and Afghanistan today.

Aria Fani is an associate professor and director of Persian and Iranian Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. He serves as the current deputy editor of Iranian Studies and is a co-investigator of the Translation Studies Hub at UW.

Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature.

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/a48266/videos

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