In Quest of Identity. Studies on the Persianate World - ebook

Introduction

The concept of “identity” is one of the key components of the present-day humanistic sciences. Also, it is especially significant because it would be difficult to find an aspect of life, or in fact a research area, upon which identity would not have left its stamp. In the course of the 20th century, the work of such scholars as E. Erikson, P. Weinreich and many others has made it possible to arrive at a scientific method of researching identity in the psychological and sociological sense. This pertains to the personal, social identity as much as to collective identities. Erikson distinguished the individual identity and the social (or cultural) identity and investigated social roles played by various individuals, as well as the process of the formation and transformation of identity in the course of a person’s life. His reflection inspired subsequent scholars, one of whom, Weinreich, proposed the conception of the Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) which constitutes a research tool in investigating the relationships of an individual with him/herself and with the surrounding reality. Considering the essays presented in the current volume, the most useful and, in fact, the most important are Weinreich’s concept of the dynamism of identity and his realization that at various points in time identity is essentially stable and forms a continuum, but that is concurrently undergoes change, fluctuation and development.

Collective identities were researched by G.H. Mead as early as the 1930s, and recently by F. Poletta and J.M. Jasper parallel to research on the social identity of individuals conducted mainly by H. Tajfel. In the theory of social identity, various forms of social behaviour of individuals are located on the continuum between the interpersonal and inter-group behaviour. Positive differentiation as the motivation to action is of fundamental importance here, as it results in strong bonds and group identification. In this area we are also dealing with the interaction between stability and continuity on the one hand and the transformation on the other.

With regard to the Persian-language civilization, the issues of the interaction between continuity and change and the processes of disappearance and revival of identities is all the more interesting considering that this civilization has been developing for long centuries on an exceptionally large territory. This is of paramount importance to the issues of identity, since it implies a diversity and progression of transformations both gradual, well-nigh imperceptible, and violent, resulting in evident and momentous caesuras. In fact, very diverse ethnic, religious and cultural identities, all part of one great civilisation, have functioned in the vast area occupied by the speakers of Persian and other languages and dialects related to it, from Turkestan to Iraq. In spite of continuous changes, those identities have demonstrated a surprising durability and strength. Some of those identities have vanished, making way for new ones; yet some have shown a tendency towards revival in new circumstances and new cultural environments.

Stability and changeability of identities, especially in the context of their disappearance and revival, is one of the leitmotifs of the current publication, which is a fruit of a collective effort of scholars who represent diverse areas of the humanities and varied approaches to the issue of identity in the lands occupied by the civilization in question. Treating the issue of identity in an interdisciplinary manner made it possible to present it from a variety of standpoints, consequently yielding a complex picture of the matter. Moreover, as it often happens when an interest in a certain research problem is shared by many specialists, new perspectives were discovered. The effect of synergy that emerged during the preparation of this publication undoubtedly adds to its quality. In addition, whereas sociologists and psychologists have long conducted research on identity or identities, an approach to the subject made from the point of view of Oriental Studies is to some extent an innovation and constitutes an interesting challenge.

In his essay The Role of the King of Kings: An Interpretation in Historiography, Dariush Borbor considers the power structure in ancient Iran, with special focus on the monarch’s position and prerogatives within the hierarchy of authority, and investigates the federalist system of the Persian state in the per-Islamic era. In this, he overcomes the stereotype of the Persian monarchy as one despotic in character and contributes to the debate regarding the sources of the Iranians’ political identity.

Stanisław Jaśkowski investigates the foundations of Ahmad Kasravi’s worldview. Despite his death from the hand of an assassin, Kasravi, an important figure in the era of the Pahlavi monarchy in Iran, managed to profoundly influence the manner in which the present-day Iranians think about their own political community. The essay entitled Kasravi – Was He Truly the Integrative Nationalist of Iran? focuses on this and other issues fundamental to our understating of the modern-day Iran.

The essay A Glance at New Persian Translations of the Middle Persian Texts by Mateusz Kłagisz presents the character and scope of problems faced by a prospective translator of texts originally written in Middle Persian, a language that has been dead for centuries, especially in the situation when he can avail himself of translations into the New Persian, a language whose career as a vehicle of rich and diverse literature reaches back more than a millennium. Similar investigations clearly reveal the long continuous existence of the civilization and the resilience of the identities of both the Persian language and the culture it expresses.

Anna Krasnowolska in her essay Who is a Madame? analyses the titular concept, which often appears in contemporary Persian-language prose, and investigates its meaning and the social role played by women designated as a “madame” in Persian literary texts. Being a foreigner, typically of Polish or Russian extraction, a “madame” not only fulfils definite social roles ascribed to her by the Iranian society in the Pahlavi era, but also in a way constitutes the antithesis of an Iranian woman’s identity.

The essay A Lost Identity: Iranians as Seafarers and Explorers concerns a very special moment in the history of the ancient Iranian civilization. On the basis of sources dating from various periods from the Antiquity to the early Abbasid era, Mirosław Michalak presents the image of the Iranians as excellent seafarers and explorers, who crossed the vast distances of the Indian Ocean and reached China by sea. The essay throws light on a forgotten area of history which once enriched the Iranian identity.

In her essay The National Identity of Iranian Jews, As Manifested in their Intellectual & Judeo-Persian Contributions, Nahid Pirnazar touches upon a very interesting aspect of Iran’s culture, which is literature in the Persian language created by Iranian Jews and written in the Hebrew alphabet. The tradition of writing down Persian texts with Hebrew characters dates back to the beginnings of Persian literature more than a millennium ago. Also, Jewish communities still exist in Iran and the neighbouring countries belonging to the circle of the Persian civilisation, for instance in Bukhara, where the local Jews using a very archaic Persian in their everyday speech. They are thus a part of that civilisation, but they also represent the local, Jewish-Persian identities.

Magdalena Rodziewicz explores the extremely controversial issue of how the fundamentals of faith are construed in the modern-day Shia Islam in her essay Blasphemers or Mystics? Reflection over the Nature of Revelation in Contemporary Iran. The Muslim scholars’ debate on theological issues of fundamental importance, which is presently unfolding in Iran, is often ignored by researchers, while in Iran itself it is an important element of the intellectual life of the elites and, of course, is exceedingly important to the Muslim and Shia identity of the country’s citizens.

Miklós Sárközy describes the development of various ethnic and religious identities and their conflicts on the example of Iran’s Caspian region in the era of the Seljuk preponderance in the essay Indigenous versus International? The Role of ‘Pre-Islamic’ Identity and Shici Islam in the Clashes of the Bāwandid Kingdom with the Nizārī Ismācīlīs in Northern Iran.

The essay Razi’s Egalitarian Idea by Reza Shomali focuses on an interesting aspect of the thought of Mohammad Zakariya Razi, an outstanding and very original Iranian philosopher living the Golden Era of Islamic culture (9th-10th century). The political issue of the equality of human beings as presented in the work of this philosopher is investigated, with a focus on the ontological foundation for equality in connection with the nature of reason. Not only the works of Razi himself, but also of his intellectual and ideological adversaries are used to further the analysis. Mohammad Zakariya Razi is one of the icons of rationalism in an era when the philosophical thought of Islam flourished, and as such represents an important, even though today occasionally suppressed element of identity in the Middle-Eastern, especially the Iranian cultural circle.

The essay Rūmī, Balkhī, Mevlevī: The Ambiguities of Identity in the Poetry of Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad (1207-1272 CE) written by Rafal Stepien is an enquiry into the life and work of one of the greatest poets of the Persian language from the perspective of his exceptionally complex identities, both the ones declared by him personally and the ones ascribed to him after the many centuries that have passed since his death. Currently, the ongoing process of appropriation is evident with regard to this poet, with profoundly anachronistic and fundamentally false ethic or national affiliations being ascribed to him; a process that has no foundation in his life or, in fact, in his output which is very far from this mode of thinking.

In the essay How the Characters Speak for Themselves: Colloquial Language as Means of Expressing Identity in Čerāqhārā man xāmuš mikonam, a Novel by Zoyā Pirzād, Katarzyna Wąsala analyses the manner in which the author of this novel defines the identities of her protagonists by means of the language they use. The issue encompasses the ethno-cultural specificity of the Armenian minority in Iran as much as the socio-cultural roles of the novel’s protagonists regardless of their origin or faith.

This brief and most general presentation of the issues touched upon by the authors of this publication clearly demonstrates how diverse are the forms in which identity manifests itself in the Persian-language civilisation, and how strongly it permeates all the possible areas of human existence: from theology through classical and modern literature to the questions of translation and history. This confirms the power and richness of this identity, as well as determines the power and richness of the civilisation represented by communities speaking the Persian language and the languages and dialects related to it. This civilisation is characterised by an astonishing endurance and at the same time the power to adapt to new conditions and to absorb foreign influences. In contrast to other cultures that may boast equally ancient roots, the Persian civilisation has, literally, retained its linguistic and ethno-cultural identity for millennia without losing anything of its attractiveness and persuasiveness. This is where its own power, and the power of the identity it represents, is rooted.

Research conducted by the authors of essays contained in this book is based on original sources in the languages of the investigated communities, mainly in Persian. This guarantees access to first-hand information and confirms how serious and professional is the authors’ approach to the issues under research. It is also consistent with the method which has for years been applied in the scholarly practice at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the University of Warsaw and at other centres of scholarship in Poland. The use of original sources in Oriental languages and their all-inclusive analysis make it possible to conduct thorough and methodical research and to produce scholarship of highest quality. It is worth noting that the Polish and foreign scholars who contributed to this publication are all researchers of the Middle East and Middle Asia, and in addition to their experience in academic work and teaching, they fluently and daily use the Oriental languages which underlie the areas of their research.

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As this publication, being a common work of many scholars with diverse backgrounds, is dealing with many transcription systems featuring a wide range of the Oriental languages and dialects, the Editors have decided to maintain the original transcriptions used by the authors. Therefore, no alterations have been made in this regard.