List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Chapter 1- Introduction: In Dialogue with Time Chapter 2 - Ballad of Tara (1978-1980): The History of Absence and the Birth of a Heroine Chapter 3- Death of Yazdgerd: Congregation for Regicide (1981): History and the Drama of the Lower and the Higher Echelons of Power Chapter 4- Nation and Nationalism in Beyzaie's Oeuvre: Towards a New Conception of Nationhood Chapter 5- Bashu, the Little Stranger (1985): Shifting the National Borders of Belonging in a Mythopoetic Discourse on Collective Identity Chapter 6- Maybe Some Other Time (1988): From Myths of Belonging and Intellectuals as Sacrificial Heroes to Home, Family, City, and Shadows of our Potential Selves Chapter 7- Travellers (1992): Ritualisation of Death, Rebirth and Sacred Marriage Chapter 8- Against Anomie and Reductionism: The Total Recall and Failure of Total Recall in The Reed Panel (1992) and Dialogue with the Wind (1998) Chapter 9- Killing Mad Dogs (2000): Anomie, Evil and a New Vision of Salvation Chapter 10- When We Are All Sleeping (2009): The Total Ascendance of Mad Dogs Notes Bibliography Index.