Description
Reza Zia-Ebrahimi revisits the work of Fath?ali Akhundzadeh and Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani, two Qajar-era intellectuals who founded modern Iranian nationalism. In their efforts to make sense of a difficult historical situation, these thinkers advanced an appealing ideology Zia-Ebrahimi calls "dislocative nationalism," in which pre-Islamic Iran is cast as a golden age, Islam is reinterpreted as an alien religion, and Arabs become implacable others. Dislodging Iran from its empirical reality and tying it to Europe and the Aryan race, this ideology remains the most politically potent form of identity in Iran.
Akhundzadeh and Kermani's nationalist reading of Iranian history has been drilled into the minds of Iranians since its adoption by the Pahlavi state in the early twentieth century. Spread through mass schooling, historical narratives, and official statements of support, their ideological perspective has come to define Iranian culture and domestic and foreign policy. Zia-Ebrahimi follows the development of dislocative nationalism through a range of cultural and historical materials, and he captures its incorporation of European ideas about Iranian history, the Aryan race, and a primordial nation. His work emphasizes the agency of Iranian intellectuals in translating European ideas for Iranian audiences, impressing Western conceptions of race onto Iranian identity.Author: Reza Zia-Ebrahimi
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 10/02/2018
Pages: 312
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9780231175777
ISBN10: 0231175779
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | World | Middle Eastern
- History | Middle East | Iran
- Political Science | Political Ideologies | Nationalism & Patriotism
About the Author
Reza Zia-Ebrahimi is senior lecturer (assistant professor) in history at King's College London.