Dr Lida Amiri’s research focuses on the literary and linguistic study of diaspora literature, interpreted in the light of extended socio-political discussions, in accordance with the globalizing and cross-cultural movement underpinning it. Funded by the Funds for Women Graduates, she obtained her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature completing her dissertation entitled ‘Re-thinkinh World Literature and Diasporic Writing: The Case of Afghanistani Translingual Authors Khaled Hosseini and Atiq Rahimi’ under the direction of Professor Charles Forsdick at the University of Liverpool. She obtained her master’s degree with distinction in English as well as French literary and linguistic studies at the University of Wuppertal and was awarded various scholarships ranging from the Fulbright Program to Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Norman Macgeorge Scholarship, the French Trust Fund, the University of Melbourne International Research Scholarship, the University of Melbourne International Fee Remission and Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst allowing her to study or gain teaching experience at Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III), at Webster University (USA) and the University of Melbourne (AUS), respectively.
As a former refugee from Afghanistan, dr. Amiri is uniquely positioned to complete the first book-length comparative study of English, French, and Persian/Dari literature of the Afghan diaspora by April 2027. Her monograph, Voices of Afghan Diasporas: Translingual Aesthetics in Contemporary Literature, which is contracted to Edinburgh UP, centers on the translingual writing practices of diasporic Afghan writers. In this book, she expand the postcolonial critique of selected works with ecological theories to explore women’s suffering and agency. The final aim of the project is to contribute to established and emergent studies of the ‘Global South’ as well as to further diversify literary studies and help to establish a global infrastructure for Afghan literati.
Most of dr. Amiri's academic publications have contributed to the cross-disciplinary discourse on marginalized Persian cultural contributions since the early modern period. She further study traditional Persian calligraphy from the 15th century and contemporary Nastaʿlīq-inspired calligraphy in the context of current exilic aesthetics by Afghan writer-artists. Thus, (medial) translation and translingual studies figure prominently across her research (see publication list). In dr. Amiri’s RMA Comparative Literary Studies masterclass ‘On Refugee Poetics: Cross-cultural studies of marginalized voices’, students planned an international hybrid academic event with Persian journalist and activist, Behrouz Boochani, and one of his translators, Dr. Omid Tofighian. In Boochani’s second publication Freedom, Only Freedom, dr. Amiri’s book chapter ‘On Narrative, Heritage and Creativity: Blending Boundaries to Challenge the Reader’ investigates prose disrupted by poetry resulting in a creative collage of experiences and emotions to be explored by the reader.
Links:
Interview with Atmosphere Press
Short story in Asymptote Journal