@Swarthy_Bastard Regular readers of my stuff know that I frequently draw upon the insights of scholars such as Afshin Marashi, Kamran Aghaie, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Farzin Vejdani, and @aa51_ansari, who argue that the nation is *the* framework for understanding #Iran.
2/SM
@Swarthy_Bastard@aa51_ansari As I argue in this piece from last year for @monkeycageblog, political legitimacy within the Islamic Republic is measured by actors' commitment to the notion that Iran was once, and will once again be, great.
3/SM
@Swarthy_Bastard@aa51_ansari@monkeycageblog@abuaardvark "It is the nation...that provides the ultimate reference point in Iran. Whether leftist, liberal or Khomeinist, leaders & opposition alike must bind their agendas to the logic that Iran is primordial, organic & continuous."
4/SM
@Swarthy_Bastard@aa51_ansari@monkeycageblog@abuaardvark "Patriotic defense of the country isn’t a passing phase but the default position, the big idea that holds Iran together. There is no need to rally around the flag, Iranians were already there, encouraged by the government to love their country as they love their religion."
5/SM
@Swarthy_Bastard@aa51_ansari@monkeycageblog@abuaardvark "Rather than abandoning the project of nationalism inherited from the shah, the [IRI] has extended it, expressing nationalist ideas through religious precepts and values. From its earliest days, the Islamic educational system has included patriotic stories alongside..."
6/SM
@Swarthy_Bastard@aa51_ansari@monkeycageblog@abuaardvark As Aghaie argues, while IRI ideologues claim to reject nationalism, their actual policies and proclamations rely heavily upon nationalist concepts. "Therefore, religious & secular leaders in Iran have not been at 2 opposite extremes along a spectrum, with secularists..."
8/SM
@Swarthy_Bastard@aa51_ansari@monkeycageblog@abuaardvark "...propagating nationalist ideals and religious leaders opposing those ideals." Marashi also reminds us that the premise that state/society are tied together by a shared national culture extends from the late Qajar period to the present day in Iran.
9/SM
@Swarthy_Bastard@aa51_ansari@monkeycageblog@abuaardvark The "rules of the game" are not in dispute in Iran, according to Marashi, but the content of the nation, of the "Real Iran." Washington would do well to understand this, as a baseline for diplomacy and comity, if not friendship, between the two countries.
10/SM
As promised, tonight I'll talk about religious storytelling or Pardeh Dari with a focus on Pardeh paintings. This is Golnar Touski, tweeting from Historians of Iran./1 @GolnarNemat
While reenactment and recitation of Shi’a tragedies were established by Safavid rulers (1501-1736) the practice gained popularity in Qajar Persia where Tekieyeh (تکیه) was a place of congregation for religious ceremonies. Here's a painting of one by Kamal al-Molk./2 @GolnarNemat
The stories were taken from existing Safavid literature of martyrology such as Rowzat-Al-Shohada or Toufan al-Boka. In Qajar Persia these were reproduced as lithographed books. In fact, emergence of printing was partly responsible for Pardeh./3 @GolnarNemat
If you ever watched a Morshed (storyteller) performing from scenes of battles,heroes,infernal serpents and paradise birds, you know the absolute joy of Naqali,the art of storytelling. This is Morshed Mirza Ali whose family have been storytellers for generations. 1/17 @GolnarNemat
These days brilliant women storytellers are part of this traditionally male-exclusive profession. This is Sara Abbaspour; one of Morshed women today. The staff stick is a crucial part of performing, used to dramatize and to point to the painted scenes. 2/17 @GolnarNemat
In 19th century Persia forms of storytelling ranged from literature and oral anecdotes to themes of romance, chivalry and history of Shi'a Islam. Today we know Naqali mainly as reciting the epic of Shahnameh (Book of Kings) by 10-11th c. poet, Ferdowsi. 3/17 @GolnarNemat
Thank you all for your support this week. It's been a blast! If you missed anything, here's a "thread of threads" of everything I talked about this week.
Please follow me at @IranChinaGuy for more posts like this! Also please check out my other project, @iranstudiesUS
1/ How far back can ties between ancient China and early Iranian societies in Central Asia be traced?
1/ In 1965, a leftist Iranian student movement in Europe declared its support for Mao Zedong's theories. The Revolutionary Organization of the Tudeh Party (Sāzmān-e Enghelābi-ye Ḥezb-e Tūdeh) would become a major faction of the student opposition.
2/ The ROTPI claimed “Comrade Mao has evolved Marxism, [and] we must solve issues from the point of view of Mao Zedong Thought." They began circulating translations of the works of Mao Zedong and other militant texts among Iranian students abroad. In pamphlets and periodicals...
3/ they extolled the virtues of andishe-ye māu se dūn (Mao Zedong Thought). They were an offshoot of the Tudeh, and bitterly opposed to its leadership. To them, the Tudeh were ineffective, disconnected from the situation in Iran, and excessively under Soviet influence.
2/ During the Yuan, China and Persia were linked by Mongol rule, and Persian was one of the official administrative languages. A few Persians held important status as members of the semuren (色目人), an administrative class made up of non-Mongol, non-Chinese subjects.
3/ For example, Sayyid Ajall Shams al-Din Omar al-Bukhari, a Persian Muslim from Bukhara, was appointed by Kublai as governor of Yunnan in 1274, a fact mentioned by Marco Polo. Chinese sources record him as Sàidiǎnchì Zhānsīdīng (赛典赤·赡思丁).
1/ Religion was another important link between #China and #Iran in both ancient and medieval times. This thread will briefly explore the Sino-#Iranian connection in the spread of three religions in China: #Buddhism, #Zoroastrianism, and #Islam.
2/ (Disclaimer: Each of these could be an entire topic, but as I am do this in my limited free time, I simply can't cover all three as well as I'd like. Please forgive anything left out, simplified, or overlooked. Follow me @IranChinaGuy and I will post more on each next week!)
3/ We have already discussed the Parthian origins of Buddhism in China via An Shigao. In general, Buddhism entered China via Central Asian contacts with Parthia, Kushan, and other Indian and Iranian cultures. Many of the early translators came from these areas, although...