Morand’s ‘Art of Dying’ Available in Persian

The Persian translation of “Art of Dying” written by acclaimed French author Paul Morand (1888-1976) and translated by Asghar Noori has been released by Nashr-e Markaz Publication.

It is the translation of “L’art de mourir suivi de Le suicide en literature” by the avant-garde author that includes two articles “Art of Dying” and “Suicide in Literature”, Mehr News Agency reported on its Persian website.

Included in the Persian book are prefaces by the prominent Iranian literary critic and researcher Babak Ahmadi and the translator himself who also is a director and playwright.

The two articles included in the book are written as part of Morand’s speech on the occasion of the centenary of Romanticism in 1932. Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century.

The concept of death and its acceptance was one of the themes in Romanticism.  It was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and characterized by emphasis on emotion, aesthetic beauty, individualism and glorification of the past and nature.

Morand’s short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s (Jazz Age).

He was much admired by the upper echelons of society and the artistic avant-garde who made him a cult favorite. He is categorized as an early modernist and imagist.

British literary critic, Ezra Pound (1885-1972), translated Morand’s first volume of short stories, titled ‘’Tendre Stocks’’, into English while the eminent French writer Marcel Proust (1871-1922) provided the preface.