Dialogue of Western and Eastern Traditions in the Works of Sadeq Hedayat

Sadeq Hedayat is a prominent figure in 20^th-century Persian literature, occupying a unique position within it. His creative legacy represents an intriguing combination of national literary tradition – deeply influenced by his knowledge of the Middle Persian dialect Pahlavi – and ideas from Hinduism and the traditions of Western literature. The assimilation of these traditions by the writer has invariably been creative; therefore, in many areas, Hedayat is considered an innovator. He was the first modernist and one of the earliest transmitters of Western influence in Iranian literature. Through his work, Iranian writers encountered the influences of E. Poe, E.T.A. Hoffmann, F. Kafka, J. Joyce, German Expressionism, French Surrealism, and the ideas of Jung and Freud. Hedayat introduced the Gothic chronotope, lyrical prose, and the new satirical genre of “Qazieh” into Iranian literature. His creative legacy has influenced nearly all Iranian writers, both his contemporaries and successors. Hedayat’s work marked a turning point in the history of Iranian prose; therefore, the analysis of this author’s legacy from the perspective of combining the European and Eastern traditions he adopted with the innovations he brought to Iranian literature is of particular interest, which is the focus of this article.