The Persian Prince: The Rise and Resurrection of an Imperial Archetype

The Persian Prince by Hamid Dabashi is a metaphor of political authority, a figurative ideal rooted in the collective memories of multiple nations, and a literary construct that connected Muslim empires across time and space. It traces this archetype through its varied historic gestations and finds it resurfacing in postcolonial political thought as a rebel, a prophet, a poet, and a nomad. This sweeping work offers a deeply learned, richly erudite, and transformative piece of critical thinking.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 06 June 2023
Publisher: Stanford University Press

The Persian Prince, a book with a title inspired by Machiavelli, takes Machiavelli's ideas of world rule to a whole new level. In his book, Hamid Dabashi presents a fresh perspective on the Persian Prince, portraying it as a metaphor for political authority, a figurative ideal deeply ingrained in the collective memories of multiple nations, and a literary construct that bridged Muslim empires across time and space, and continues to shape political discourse today.

Dabashi draws on a wide range of sources, including works from Classical Antiquity, the vast Persianate world, including India and the Mediterranean, as well as the Hebrew Bible and European medieval mirrors for princes. By engaging with a diverse array of political thought, Dabashi uncovers the construction of the Persian Prince as a powerful archetype. He traces this archetype through its various historical manifestations and identifies its reappearance in postcolonial political thought as a rebel, prophet, poet, and nomad.

By bringing together poetics and politics, Dabashi demonstrates how the Persian Prince has long defined political authority throughout the broader Iranian and Islamic worlds. With meticulous attention to literary and poetic texts, moral and philosophical treatises, allegorical and anecdotal stories, sacred and secular evidence, visual and performing arts, histories of global empires and colonial conquests, this comprehensive work presents a profound, scholarly, and transformative exploration of critical thinking.

As Dabashi reveals, the Persian Prince continues to be a subject of ongoing debate across the Muslim and Persianate worlds, encompassing discussions about public domain and collective power, as well as the prospects of democratic institutions. This book serves as a valuable contribution to our understanding of these complex issues and offers a rich and enlightening perspective on the enduring legacy of the Persian Prince.

Weight: 532g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503636231