Doctoral Dissertation Research: Publishers, Translators, and the Circulation of Western Texts in Iran

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

Yale University doctoral candidate Hosna Sheikholeslami, with the guidance of Dr. Karen Nakamura, will undertake research on how and why social scientific and philosophical ideas travel across cultures. Her particular focus will be the role of publishers and translators in the promotion of selected theories and thinkers; she will investigate the process that surround the selection, translation, publication, dissemination, and acceptance of introduced texts. The research is to be conducted in Tehran, Iran. The researcher will employ a wide range of social science research methods including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, career story interviews, life history interviews, cognitive science methodologies, media analysis, archival research, and intensive study of translations. Focusing on four major publishing houses, data will be gathered from current and former publishers, translators, editors, intellectuals, censors, bureaucrats, printers, distributors, bookstore owners, reviewers, and readers. The research is important because it will be one of the first systematic studies to add the processes of translation and publication to theories of how knowledge circulates across societal and cultural boundaries. Findings from this research will contribute important information about the circulation of Western ideas and texts in Islamic societies. Funding this research also supports the education of a graduate student.