Societies in Persian literature

Societies in Persian literature

The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan and Four Controversial Questions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
javad dehghanian 1
Vahid Keshavarz 2
1 Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
2 PhD student of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
10.30488/sipl.2025.529595.1097
Abstract
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan and its sequel, Hajji Baba of Ispahan in England, are considered among the most influential social novels written before the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. These works have consistently attracted scholarly attention, largely because of the controversies and ambiguities surrounding them. Besides evaluating the significance of the research about the novel, the present study seeks to provide well-reasoned responses to the existing ambiguities. This research employs a descriptive-analytical methodology. After identifying and reviewing the background literature, the questions surrounding the novel are categorized into four thematic areas: (1) content and purpose, (2) textual authenticity, (3) characterization, and (4) translation and translator. In terms of content, despite the novel’s overt and covert colonial objectives, The Adventures of Hajji Baba was widely welcomed by Iranian readers. This indicates that the work has not been merely perceived as a biased or propagandistic text. The readers interpreted it as an exaggerated representation of Iran’s socio-cultural problems. Regarding authenticity, while the hypothesis of an original Persian manuscript remains, the use of picaresque narrative techniques and the absence of conclusive evidence make the English origin of the text more credible. Nonetheless, Morier probably benefited from his Persian-language notes and manuscripts in constructing the narrative. As for characterization, the author employed a montage technique. The characters are fictional composites modeled after real Qajar-era officials, whom Morier often depicted satirically, reflecting his personal bias. Concerning the ambiguities surrounding the translation of the first volume, the translator, Mirza Habib, extensively edited and reworked the original text. In doing so, he transformed it into a distinguished anti-colonial and anti-despotic literary work to raise public awareness in the Qajar era
Keywords
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan Hajji Baba in England James Morier Content Textual Authenticity Translation
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-        Morier, James Justinian  (1895). The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan, Volume 1. Edited by Edward Granville Browne. London: Methuen.
 
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