Contents List: Foreword Preface Editors' Note Acknowledgements PART 1: INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS 1. Stepping Inside: Culture through the Voices of Art and Literature Arley Loewen 2. A Guided Tour of Afghanistan's History Jonathan Lee PART 2: DARI LITERATURE 3. A Thousand Years of Persian Jewels: The Classical Persian Poet Arley Loewen 4. Rhyme and Verse in Politics: Persian Poetry in Afghanistan since 1900 Bashir Sakhawarz 5. They Constantly Sing with Grief: Eleven Modern Poets Arley Loewen, with Partaw Nadiri 6. Voices from Behind Window and Walls: An Overview of Dari Short Stories Arley Loewen 7. Glimpses Behind Windows and Walls: Nine Short Stories from 20th Century Dari Fiction Arley Loewen 8.
Crawling Worms, Blooming Flowers, and Poplar Trees: Dari Children's Rhymes Asadullah Shour, with Arley Loewen 9. Tea First, Then We Fight!: Dari Proverbs Juan Cardenas PART 3: PASHTO LITERATURE 10. Guns and Roses: The Two Strands of Pashto Poetry Rob Sampson 11. I Love My Land!: Contemporary Pashto Poetry Habibullah Rafi, with Arley Loewen 12. Traditions Live On: The Modern Pashto Short Story in Afghanistan Muhammad Zarin Anzur, with Arley Loewen 13. The Pinkie Finger says 'Let's go!': Pashto Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes Muhammad Nabi Tadbir, with Arley Loewen 14. Prisms of Light on Pashtun Life and Culture: Pashto Proverbs Len Bartlotti 15. Tit for Tat: A Selection of Pashto Proverbs from Rohi Mataluna Len Bartlotti PART 4: THEMES OF CULTURE 16.
What Do People Say?: Reputation in Persio-Afghan Culture Arley Loewen 17. Please be my Patron: How Firdawsi was Embittered by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni Arley Loewen 18. Longing for Home, but How to Get There?: The Poet Hafiz and the 'Problem of the Heart' Arley Loewen 19. Love for the Sake of Love: Medieval and Modern Love Stories from Afghanistan and Beyond Arley Loewen PART 5: TRADITIONAL ART 20. Crossroads of Cultures and the Silk Roads: The Archaeological and Architectural Heritage of Afghanistan Jonathan Lee 21. God Taught Man by the Pen: Calligraphy in Afghan Culture Leslee Michelson 22. Silent Beauty within Alleys and Walls: The Old City of Kabul Rory Stewart 23. Carving a Niche in Culture: The Noble Art of Woodcarving Hermione Calvocoressi and Mohammad Yousef Suratgar 24.
Shaping Afghanistan: Traditional Pottery and Economic Reconstruction Esther Svensson, Noah Coburn, and Ustad Honaryar PART 6: PERFORMING AND FINE ARTS 25. Modern Sounds, Ancient Words: Singing and Music in Afghanistan Arley Loewen, with Vaheed Kaacemy and Sediq Qiam 26. Drawing Back the Curtain: Art and Artists of Afghanistan Muhammad Alam Farhad, with Arley Loewen 27. From Love to Osama: Film in Afghanistan Arley Loewen, with Timur Hakimyar and Jawansher Haydari PART 7: POTPOURRI 28. East Meets West: Two Afghan Authors Who Write in English Arley Loewen 29. Mullah Nasruddin: The Legendary Wise Fool Arley Loewen 30. No Right to Write! No Freedom to Sing!: The Role of Afghan Women in Literature and Music Fatama Akhtari, with Arley Loewen 31. Who Built that Wall?: The Wall of Kabul and Other Folktales Arley Loewen 32.
Cartoons and Comedy in Afghanistan Zach Warren Appendices Glossary About the Contributors Editors' Biographies Index.