Places as Narrative Tropes in Medieval Persian Literature: Place Names and Their Connotations in Saadi's Gulistan
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Saadi's Gulistan (1258 CE) is one of the most important works of Persian literature, and for centuries has shaped how successive generations imagined distant lands, cities, and peoples. Based on 123 instances of toponyms identified through close reading of the original Persian text, we show that Saadi employs 76 distinct place names carrying stereotypes, tropes, and symbolic associations that reflect the mental geography of the medieval Islamic world. Drawing on the distinction between location, locale, and sense of place, we show that most of these tropes operate primarily as sense of place, requiring no direct encounter with the physical location itself. The study connects Persian literary scholarship with works in place studies on how place is constructed and transmitted through narrative media.
Authors: Abbasi, Omid Reza, Scholz, Johannes
Institution: University of Salzburg
Language: English
Topic: Spatial and Cultural Studies
Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7215056469