The international conferences on Iranian studies, held every four years by the Societas Iranologica Europaea, offer a broad forum for academic discussion and give opportunity for an exchange of views and ideas. They allow the participants to get acquainted with the results of the newest research projects and discoveries (field research in ethnolinguistics, study of manuscripts etc.), as well as new trends and methodologies in Iranian studies.The texts which contribute to the present book cover a broad variety of questions concerning the Iranian World: languages, literature, religions, history anthropology, demography, sociology, medicine, art and film. Any reader interested in the history and modernity of Islamic Iran and Central Asia, will certainly find some fascinating material here. The interdisciplinary character of this book and the competences of its authors - acknowledged authorities in their field, as well as representatives of a younger generation - can be considered as its greatest merits.
Kinga Paraskiewicz, Department of Iranian Studies, Jagiellonian University