Iranian Culture Lost in Translation

For a semester now we have visited once a week this course called Iranian Culture in Translation. In this relatively short time we have been exposed to an enormous amount of material regarding modern Iran, and although it has been daunting, it has also been fun and incredibly informative. Though I feel we've only really scratched the surface of this experience, I think that we've gotten a good taste of the complexities of both Iran culture proper, and the translation of that culture out of its native Farsi and into other languages.

For me, translation more than any other aspect of this class is the defining issue of a course such as this. Within any language interpretation is a constant stumbling block to understanding, and a constant re-negotiation is necessary to come to common ground in any exchange. Add to that the complexity of navigating completely different words, phrases, and idioms all conditioned by vastly different world-views and you have a recipe for major confusion and doubt. Still, when all is said and done we do manage to come to a general understanding, and enlightenment despite cross-cultural difficulties, largely because art is the meta-language of the human species, and it is through the artistic mediums explored in our course that these various, authors, filmmakers, musicians, and poets have presented their world to us.