Cafe Lit. 42: Cyrus the great

Subject : Cyrus the great and Achaemenid Empire
Date: 1st Nov. 2007
Presented by : Majid Fekri

Cafe Lit. 41: Sigmund Freud & Freudian Psychoanalysis

Subject: Sigmund Freud & Freudian Psychoanalysis
Date: 20:00 25 Oct. 2007
Presented by: Pasha Javadi

Sigmund Freud, physiologist, medical doctor and father of psychoanalysis, is generally recognised as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century. He articulated and refined the concepts of the unconscious, of infantile sexuality, of repression, and proposed a tri-partite account of the mind's structure, all as part of a new conceptual frame of reference for the understanding of human psychological development and the mental conditions. Freud's innovative treatment of human actions, dreams, and indeed of cultural artefacts as invariably possessing implicit symbolic significance has proven to be extraordinarily fecund, and has had massive implications for a wide variety of fields, including anthropology, semiotics, and artistic creativity and appreciation in addition to psychology. However, Freud's most important and frequently re-iterated claim, that with psychoanalysis he had invented a new science of the mind, remains the subject of much critical debate and controversy.

Cafe Lit. 40: Vipassana & Buddhism

Subject: Vipassana & Buddhism
Date: 18 Oct. 2007
Present by: Mohammad Larijani

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation which was rebuilt by Buddha. It was taught in India more than 2500 years ago as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art of Living.¨

This non-sectarian technique aims for the total eradication of mental impurities and the resultant highest happiness of full liberation. Healing, not merely the curing of diseases, but the essential healing of human suffering, is its purpose.

Cafe Lit. 39: Fereidoon Moshiri

Subject: Fereidoon Moshiri
Date: 11 Oct. 2007
Presented by: Babak Esmaeili



به روز نوجواني 'روي گونه'اولين موي سياه
قلم در دست'بزرگ در سر
عيان بر ديده كردي'عشق پنهانت بيان
كه مهر آمد به پايان '
به آبان كه رسيديم سومش آمد غمان
كه عشق آمد ولي جانت به خاك
Ali Rahnama

Cafe Lit. 38: Legal systems of the world

Subject: "Legal systems of the world" (Nezamhaye hoghooghie donya)
Presented by: Mohammad Larijani
Date: 4 Oct. 2007 at 20:30

Cafe Lit. 37: Feminism

Subject: Feminism
Presented by: Hesam Ghasemi
Date: 27 Sept. 2007

The Feminism movement's theory,history and branches in North America were discussed.

Cafe Lit. 36

Subject: Ethnomusicology
Presented by: Farrokh Vahabzadeh
Date: 20 Sep. 2007
Ethnomusicology goals,rules and bases in general were
discussed and the Central Asian Dutar were presented .

Cafe Lit. 35

Subject: Spectatcle; "Tazieh" and "namayesh aroosaki"(pupet show)
Presented by: Ali Rahnama
Date: 13 Sept. 2007

Cafe Lit. 34

Subject:Sohrab Sepehri
Presented by: Mehdi Keshtkar & Pasha Javadi
Date: 6 Sept. 2007

The notable persian modern poet and painter, Sohrab Sepehri's biography was the introduction of this session, then some of his famous poems like "Neshani", selected parts of "Sedaye paye aab" and also "Mosafer" was read.

Cafe Lit. 33

Subject: Spectacles after islam
Presented by: Ali Rahnama
Date: 30 Aug. 2007

The history of spectacle in Iran after Islam were discussed.

Cafe Lit. 32

Subject: Short Story

Presented by: Cafe Literature

Date: Thursday 23 August 2007

Very nice session!!!

We read to short stories:
1. "Kash esmam Aida bood" a short story by Maryam Yushi zadeh. This story was suggested by Mehdi. Then we had a nice discussion about the story and its form and content.

2. "Asheghiyat dar Pavaraghi" by Mahsa Moheb-Ali which was suggested by Alireza. The story has an unusual form which is interesting.

Cafe Lit. 31

Subject: The History of spectacle in Iran (Before Islam)
Date: Thursday 16 August 2007
Presented by: Ali Rahnama
The history of the spectacle (referenced to Bahram Beyzaei) in Iran were discussed.
The second part ( after Islam) postponed to next session.

Cafe Lit. 30

Subject: " criticism of thoughts : methods and sophistries ".
Presented by: Hesam Ghasemi
Date: 9 Aug. 2007
This is a synopsis of 21 lectures of Dr. Soroush.

Here is a useful link where you can download more information :
What is Science? What is philosophy?

Cafe Lit. 29

Gust3: Dr. Ata Hoodashtian
Subject : Modernity without west
Presented by: Dr. Hoodashtian
Date: 2 Aug. 2007

Dr. Hoodashtian, Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Paris, MA and DEA in Philosophy from the Sorbonne University, France.

Associate professor and director of the “Management Institute of Canada”, based in Montreal, Canada.

He has taught in France for a period of 10 years at Institutes, Grandes Ecoles and the University of Paris 8, and worked in Asia (Central Asia and China) for 3 years, as Assistant Professor and Director of the Research Center. He has collaborated with Yale University, European Universities, NGOs, and has been Chair of the Editorial Board of the “Central Asian Journal" for two years, published in collaboration with Yale University, and is a member of the CRISE, research center at the University of Paris 8 since 1997.

Cafe Lit. 28

Subject: Ahmad Shamlou
Presented by: Cafe Lit.
Date:26 Jul. 2007
Some of his great poems were read and discussed.

Cafe Lit. 27

We transfer this session to the speech of Dr. Ata Hoodashtian about "Modernity without West" in MEKIC (Maison d'Edition Ketabe Iran et Canada).

Cafe Lit. 26

Subject: Guest 2, Taraneh Javanbakht
Date:12 Jul. 2007
She has talked about his activity and have read some of her stories.

Cafe Lit. 25

Subject: Open Discussion; Duties of Literature
Presented by: Cafe literature.
Date: 2 Jul. 2007

Not much participants, but a nice discussion. What is Literature and what is the main duty of a writer? Why a writer write? etc. were the questions that we discussed about them.

Quality is more important than quantity!

Cafe Lit. 24

Subject: Fashion
Presented by: Hoda Motaghi
Date: 28 Jun. 2007
The history of Fashion were presented and the necessity and philosophies behind it were discussed.

Cafe Lit. 23

Subject: Pablo Neruda
Presented by: Mehdi Keshtkar
Date:21 Jun. 2007

Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, pennamed PABLO NERUDA was the noble winner for literature in 1971. In this session Neruda's biography was reviewed.
The Colombian novelist novelist Gabriel García Márquez has called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language"...

We read some of his poems. But the discussing point of our session was the weakness in translation from original language to destination language, specially when we face poems.

Cafe Lit. 22

Subject: Iran history of Cinema
Presented by: Khatereh Khodayi
Date:14 Jun. 2007

History of the cinema in Iran were studied according to the

book " Iranian cinema" by Hamid Reza Sadr

Cafe Lit. 21

Subject: Bet movies of the Cinema
Presented by: Forough Ensandoust
Date: 7 Jun 2007

Cafe Lit. 20

Subject: Logic
Presented by: Alireza Tajali
Date: 31 May 2007

The Logic, its basis and some of the famous theories were discussed.

Cafe Lit. 19

Subject: watching the Movie: "Blowup" by Michelangelo Antonioni
Presented by: Khatereh Khodayi
Date: 24 May 2007

The movie were watched and we discussed about it afterward

Cafe Lit. 18

Subject: Mohy-eddin Ibn Arabi
Presented by: Ali Shirazi
Date: 17 May 2007