Greenfield reflects on hope as manifested by her young daughter.

The primary aim of this Theories and Methodologies special feature (PMLA, March 2024) is to spotlight work on 'the Persianate' in the disciplines of language and literature. The essayists examine the aesthetic, cultural, linguistic, political, religious, economic, and social currents that both construct the Persianate world and compromise it at key moments not just in history but also in certain analytic contexts.

The eight essays that appear in the Theories and Methodologies section of the January 2024 issue of PMLA examine core concepts derived from the premodern compendium of Arabic thought—associated with the disciplines of aesthetics, jurisprudence, philosophy, rhetoric, theology, and more—and activate them as nodes of theoretical contemplation.