Sadeq Hedayat (1903-1951) abandoned his training in dentistry and, later, engineering in France and Belgium, to study old Persian and Iranian mythology. He would become one of the first modernist fiction writers in Iran. He published stories, essays and plays, but The Blind Owl, a short enigmatic novel, has been celebrated as his masterpiece.
Heyadat was a nationalist who lived during one of the most turbulent periods of modern Iranian history. Major events in his lifetime included the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911), which aimed to limit royal power and modernise the state; the rise of the moderniser and authoritarian Reza Shah (1925-1941); and the second world war, when Iran was occupied by British and Soviet forces (1941-1945).
Hedayat seemed burdened by Iran’s downfall from its glorious past and its decline into social inequality and political repression. He felt the tension between the nation’s transplanted modernity and its dogmatic traditions, which he mocked for being riddled with superstition and empty rituals.
