Dr. Samira Sasani is visiting the Chair of English Literatures of Prof. Dr. Horlacher at the Institute of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies, in the context of the Dresden Fellowship programme from April 1 to July 31, 2024.

Dr. Sasani completed her PhD in English Literature at Shiraz University, Iran, in 2012. Since then, she has been working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics at Shiraz University.

She has already published two monographs with German publishers. She has also received prizes and awards, as well as two invitations to the University of Toronto, Canada. She has been a member of the Comparative Literature Committee at the School of Literature and Humanities at Shiraz University since 2012.

She tells us more about her research and her stay in Dresden in the interview:

How do you like Dresden?
Dresden is really a beautiful, calm and quiet city which charmingly absorbs you with its intact nature and its peace-evoking Elbe River running through the heart of it. How beautifully and correctly Dresden is called the “Jewl Box”! Before coming to Dresden, I knew this city with Kurt Vonnegut‘s Slaughterhouse-Five and the tragedy the city experienced in the Second World War. And now, Dresden for me is reminiscent of the city of stunning baroque architecture, wide squares and its enchanting and captivating nature.

Is it your first time in Germany and Dresden?
I’ve seen different countries of Europe, but it is the first time that I come to beautiful Germany and its “Jewel Box”, Dresden.

What is your connection to TU Dresden, how did you get here?
TU Dresden is one of the top public universities which has academic ties with Shiraz University and its reputation is not limited to Saxony, but a world reputation it has.  The important reason why I chose this university is esteemed Prof. Dr. Stefan Horlacher. Considering my research interests and Professor Horlacher’s sterling literary background, I got motivated to pursue my research in collaboration with him and his academic team and colleagues in the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies of TU Dresden.

What are your main interests as a researcher? Which topics do you focus on?
My research interests include Postcolonialism, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, World Literature, Persian Literature, Modernist and Contemporary Drama and Fiction, Media Studies and recently I am working on the role of cities and architecture in fiction and film (Urban Literature).

What will be the focus of your research at TU Dresden?
Here, in collaboration with Professor Horlacher, I am studying the myth-making roles London and Paris play in Penelope Lively’s novel, City of the Mind and Jacques Tati’s film, Play Time.

How was your experience at TUD and in Dresden so far and what are your plans for the rest of your stay?
Professor Horlacher and his cooperative team have paved the way for me to teach and to do my research project by offering a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere. I highly appreciate it. For the rest of my stay, besides teaching and conducting my research, I would like to take part in different classes and seminars held by my colleagues and to observe some PhD and MA viva sessions, as well.   

You are also teaching at TUD. How did you experience the German students
Teaching at TU Dresden is an unforgettable and valuable experience and opportunity for me. This semester, I teach “Modernist and Post-modernist English Novels” to German students who are really studious and enthusiastic. In one of the sessions, teaching “petit recits“ and „local narratives“ and other features of postmodernism in Literature, I read a very short paragraph from Persian Literature; surprisingly, I saw the students’ admirable reaction towards what I read; though, it was totally meaningless to them, they liked the rhythm and sounds they heard. I don’t know how viable it is for TU Dresden to establish a new field of Comparative Literature or to offer some courses encompassing Persian and English Literature, in the Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies which has a multicultural and interdisciplinary outlook.   

Do you have a favourite quote? If so, what is it and from whom?
Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi, the Persian poet, says: “Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself”.
 

Which book did you recently read? / Which movie/series did you watch recently?
I read a play written by Cuban-American Playwright, Nilo Cruz.  Anna in the Tropics (2002) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. This paly is about the Cuban immigrants and how mechanization affected their cigar-making industry in Florida in 1929 and the tradition of their lectors‘ story telling and how Russian author, Leo Tolsto’s  Anna Karenina is the source of inspiration for the characters in the play. 
And I watched an intriguing film called, Ray (2004) which is an American biographical film narrating the challenging life of Ray Charles Robinson, an American pianist and singer who lost his sight in his childhood. He was born in 1930 and died in 2004.