Acknowledgements
My deepest gratitude is due to the many learned and kind people who have encouraged my interest in the taʿziyeh, generously shared their knowledge, patiently answered my many questions, helped me with sources, offered invaluable advice, feedback, and support. I thank the Iranian taʿziyeh audience for welcoming me so warmly, and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana for access to the Cerulli Persian Collection. I thank my husband Dr Moritz Linkmann, Professor Nacim Pak-Shiraz, Dr Azin Mostajer Haghighi, Professor Andrew Newman, Mr Hamed Mir-Sadeghi, Dr Yaser Mirdamadi, Ms Matilde Wilkens, Dr Davud Fath-ʿAli Baigi, Dr Husain Esmaʿili, Dr Mustafa Laʿl Shateri, Professor Ulrich Marzolph, Professor Elisabeth Dutton, Dr Sara Khalili Jahromi, Professor Sarah Carpenter, and, of course, Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila.
I owe special thanks to Professor Hämeen-Anttila for the honour of his mentorship, and for his enthusiasm in helping me to tackle the tricky challenges that arose whilst working with these scripts â turning many a daunting problem into an enjoyable puzzle. Thank you, Jaakko, it was such a pleasure. Any mistakes are, naturally, all mine.
This book is an evolution of my doctoral research that was funded by an ESRC award from the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS), UKRI.