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June 15, 2007
Stagnation?
Not much to write about, honestly. My days are spent reading, writing, and thinking about ancient economy (who knew it needs thinking!), plus correcting the accursed final exams that a good friend FedExed to me all the way from LA. Golly, these kids write a lot!:P
I will be off to the UK to see the infamous Bactrian documents that I am going to write about. Then to Turkey to visit some sites and then to Iran, although I am a bit worried about the recent political developments, but who cares about me and my deep research into sheep droppings from 1500 years ago?!
By the way, the more I read about it, the more convinced I become that we need a new periodization for the history of West and Centeal Asia. "Ancient" and "Late Antique" and "Medieval" just don't work, we need something more relevant to the actual turn of events in that region. Maybe I should look into Chinese history for that, since they should be doing similar things... Come to think of it, I have no idea how they periodize Chinese history!
So, here I am, as you have surely realised, too deep into books to really care about the real world. I shall snap out of it, I am sure. Maybe some P. G. Wodehouse reading, eh, Jeeves?
Posted by Khodadad at June 15, 2007 01:52 PM
Comments
Right'o jeeves ;)
Posted by: Shideh at June 15, 2007 04:01 PM
I have always heard of Chinese history as being divided by dynastic ruling periods; e.g., Ming Dynasty, Sung Dynasty, etc. Maybe this only applies to pottery and porcelin, though. ;)
My friend Naj ( http://iranfacts.blogspot.com/ ) was in Iran recently to visit her sick father. She had no problems and her blog is quite political! I hope you enjoy your visit home. :)
If you are interested to read some poems written by yours truly at age 12, then check out my new post. Don't expect too much, though! ;)
Posted by: David at June 15, 2007 09:08 PM
Bonjour Khodadad,
Yes, reading PG Wodehouse would certainly be the right thing to do (to me, W has be a companion for many years).
I am however a bit astonished that this author can make a hit with someone coming from such a different civilization. Till now, I had the impression that what is funny and what is not varies from country to country and also as the years go by.
It might be interesting to hear a joke or a funny story told very long ago; let's say in Ancient Persia. But I fear there are no sources, right?
Meanwhile,
tinkety-tonk and toodle-oo
Georg
Posted by: Georg at June 17, 2007 08:34 AM
Humour is universal, and the "civilisation" is not THAT different, whatever it is, we share it, I assure you. Don't believe the "Western Civilisation" textbooks...
Many of the pieces of Persian/Middle Eastern humour are popular in Europe, for example, stories of Nasruddin which are popular in many European countries, either under his name or under the guise of the stories of Eulenspiegel...
I agree, however, that old Plum's stories are a tad bit hard to translate, as they really are such quintessentially "English" pieces...
There are humourous pieces from ancient Iran, and many from the medieval ages. Some fables that are included in collections such as Aesop or Pancha Tantra are actually meant as jokes.
Posted by: Khodadad at June 18, 2007 01:26 PM