“Neither Ākhūnd nor Fukulī”: Munāzirah and the Discourse of Iranian Modernity

Iranian modernity has chiefly been examined in the context of a dialectical antagonism between “traditionalists” and “modernists”—the main categories comprised of related sub-headings such as “Islamist” versus “secular,” “reactionary” versus “revolutionary,” and “regressive” versus “progressive.” Following this binaristic approach, Iranian adaptations of modernity have often been (de)historicized as a theatre of national “awakening” resulting from the toils of secular intellectuals in overcoming the obstinate resistance of traditional reactionaries, a confrontation between two purportedly well-defined and mutually exclusive camps. Such reductionist dialectics has generally overwritten the dialogic narrative of Iranian modernity, a conflicted dialogue misrepresented as a conflicting dialectic. It has also silenced an important feature of Iranian modernity: the universally acknowledged premise of the simultaneity and commensurability of tradition with modernity. The monāzereh (disputation or debate) is the account of the interaction between rival discourses that engaged in opposing, informing, and appropriating each other in the process of adapting modernity. Narrativizing the history of Iranian modernity as the conflict between mutually exclusive binaries overlooks its hyphenated, liminal identity—a narrative of adaptation rather than wholesale adoption, of heterogeneity rather than homogeneity, of dialogics rather than dialectics. The monāzereh is the account of modern Iranian histories.     

The Dialogical Tradition of Iranian Modernity: Monazereh,Simultaneity, and the Making of Modern Iran

Iranian modernity has chiefly been examined in the context of a dialectical antagonism between “traditionalists” and “modernists”—main categories comprised of related sub-headings such as “Islamist” versus “secular,” “reactionary” versus “revolutionary,” and “regressive” versus “progressive.” Following this approach, Iranian adaptations of modernity have often been (de)historicized as a theater of national “awakening” resulting from the toils of secular intellectuals in overcoming the obstinate resistance of traditional reactionaries, a confrontation between two purportedly well-defined and mutually exclusive camps. Such reductionist dialectics has generally overwritten the dialogic narrative of Iranian modernity, a conflicted dialogue misrepresented as a conflicting dialectic. It has also silenced an important feature of Iranian modernity: the universally acknowledged premise of the simultaneity and commensurability of tradition with modernity. The monazereh (disputation or debate) is the account of the interaction between rival discourses that engaged in opposing, informing, and appropriating each other in the process of adapting modernity. Narrativizing the history of Iranian modernity as the conflict between mutually exclusive binaries overlooks its hyphenated, liminal¹1 The notion of liminality has been theorized in different capacities. The anthropologist Victor Turner first used the idea of liminality in his study of tribal and religious rituals during which an initiate experiences a liminal stage when he belongs neither to the old order nor yet accepted into his new designation. Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure (Chicago, IL: Aldine, 1969). Turner’s insight has been expanded to investigate the general question of status in society. See, for example, Caroline Walker Bynam, Fragmentation and Redemption (New York: Zone Books, 1992), 27–51. Bynam applies Turner’s notion of liminality to the lives of Medieval female saints, arguing that Turner’s liminal passage applies more readily to the male initiate but does not in most cases reflect the experience of female initiates in Medieval times. Jungian psychology has shifted the focus from liminality as a stage in social movement to a step in an individual’s progress in the process of individuation. Jeffrey Miller, The Transcendent Function (New York: State University of New York Press, 2004), 104. See also: Peter Homans, Jung in Context: Modernity and the Making of a Psychology (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1979). Others have used liminality to describe cultural and political change, have prescribed its application to historical analysis, or have made reference to “permanent liminality” to describe the condition in which a society is frozen in the final stage of a ritual passage. Respectively, Agnes Horvath, Bjorn Thomassen, and Harald Wydra, “Introduction: Liminality and Cultures of Change.” International Political Anthropology (2009); Agnes Horvath, Modernism and Charisma (Basingstoke: Palgrave, Macmillan, 2013); and Szakolczai, Reflexive Historical Sociology (New York: Routledge, 2000), 23. Finally, the notion of liminality has been applied to the analysis of mimetic behaviour and to the emergence of tricksters as charismatic leaders, given the association of the figure of the trickster with imitation. Respectively, Agnes Horvarth, Modernism and Charisma (Basingstoke: Palgrave, Macmillan, 2013), 55; and Arpad Szakolczai, Reflexive Historical Sociology (New York: Routledge, 2000), 155. This latter sense seems to apply to the history of Iranian modernity, for the anxiety of imitation was indeed one of its central concerns, and influential figures such as Mirza Malkum Khan (1833–1908) were sometimes perceived (though this was not universally the case) as saviours or tricksters alternatively by different people. On this issue, Fereydun Adamiyat notes how different people had different views of Malkum. The “despotic prince Zill al-Sultan” considered him to be of equal status to Plato and Aristotle. Aqa Ibrahim Badayi’ Nigar thought he was devoid of “the fineries of knowledge and literature (latīfah-i dānish va adab). Minister of Sciences and chief minister Mukhbirul Saltanah Hidayat thought “whatever Malkum wrote has been said in other ways in [Sa’di’s] Gulistan and Bustan.” Fekr-e Azadi (Tehran: Sukhan, 1340/1961), 99. Mehdi Quli Khan Hedayat’s view of Malkum Khan was summed up in these words: “This Malkum knew some things in magic and trickstery and finally did some dishonorable things and gave the dar al-fonun a bad reputation,” Khaterat va Khatarat (Tehran: Zavvar, 1389/2010), 58. Having said that, my use of the notion of liminality, though informed by the theoretical perspectives cited above, diverges from them in one important aspect: liminality as perceived by contemporary theory seems to be based on a pre-/post- understanding of non-liminal statuses accompanied by a desire on the part of the subject to emerge from the liminal state. This approach does not explain liminality as a site for the synthesis of coexisting identities. The munāzirah is precisely the account of such a process. In the context of Iranian modernity, the discourse of tradition was not perceived as prior to the discourse of modernity, as we shall amply see. In fact, European civilizational progress was deemed to have resulted from the successful implementation of Islamic principles. Therefore, while the history of Iranian modernity can still be analyzed as a liminal stage where a weakened old order meets the promise of a new order, it must be understood in terms of the encounter of simultaneous and parallel discourses. It is in this sense that liminality is employed in this study.View all notes identity—a narrative of adaptation rather than wholesale adoption, of heterogeneity rather than homogeneity, of dialogues rather than dialectics. The monazereh is the account of modern Iranian histories.     

A late Holocene pollen record from Lake Almalou in NW Iran: evidence for changing land-use in relation to some historical events during the last 3700 years

A pollen diagram was prepared from Lake Almalou, a volcanic crater wetland located on the eastern flanks of the Sahand Volcanic Complex in NW Iran. The core provides a 3700-year record of human activity and environmental change in an upland region. We attempt to relate vegetation changes to both climatic change and historical events. Variations of anthropogenic pollen indicators suggest several phases of intensified human activities. Two strongly expressed agricultural phases are dated at about 2450–2220 cal BP (Achaemenid Empire) and 230–30 cal BP (collapse of Safavid Dynasty to the modern period). Historical rather than climatic events appear to be the main controlling factors for upland land-use dynamics. Fruticulture has been practiced in the region at least since the Iron Age, reaching its maximum importance 1500–1250 cal BP during the reign of Sassanid Empire; it declined by the time of Islamic conquest of Iran (651 AD). The Little Ice Age is tangibly recorded by higher lake water levels most probably due to both lower summer temperatures and higher annual precipitations. Low values of cereal-type and cultivated tree pollen during this period may indicate a change in the lifestyle from the cultivation of fields and orchards to a more nomadic life dominated by summer pasture. The modern period (1850 AD onwards) is characterized by expansion of agricultural activities to upland areas and intensified pastoralism.     

The Question of Identity vis-à-vis Exoticism in Contemporary Iranian Art

This essay explores two primary concerns in the art and artistic practice of contemporary Iran, namely “identity” (i.e. local, historical, imagined and collective identity and also self-identity) and “exoticism” (which appears inevitably related to the first), both of which (identity and exoticism) involve challenges relating to the “self” and “other” and the issue of “expectation”. It suggests that these issues see broader contextual socio-political parallels. The first apprehension relates to the concept of identity which addresses how artists have interpreted contemporary aesthetics in the light of national and indigenous ideology. The second refers to the ever-present obsession with cultural and frequently social concern with which Iranian artists are engaged within the country. The two concerns are integrated, in the way that the second is seen to be the outcome of the first. Some critiques are based on the issues of cultural commodification, anti-canonical West, cultural formulation, and also the stereotypes rooted in the preference and interest of the market.     

From the Land of the Pure,in Search of the Lost Origin: An Interview with Bahram Beyzaie on Siyavush-Khani (Siyavush Recitation) and its Mythological and Literary Roots

The interview was conducted in 1997 after the publication of Beyzaie's extraordinary engagement with the legend of Siyavush in Siyavush-Khani (Siyavush Recitation). Beyzaie's experiments with Shahnameh legends are not adaptations in the strict sense of the term. This is primarily because their stories are often different from what appears in the Shahnameh, mix the narratives with other mythical sources and place them in contemporary templates with an inter-paradigmatic gaze that reflects on the meaning and the history of the present. The interview is significant in that, as it has been conducted by a leading playwright and scholar of Iranian performing arts, it enables the reader to have firsthand experience of working in Iran as a playwright and reveals some of the methods Beyzaie uses to handle his subjects.     

Experimental Evaluation of Seismically and Non-Seismically Detailed External RC Beam-Column Joints

An experimental investigation was undertaken to study the seismic performance of external reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joints having representative details for mid-rise RC frame buildings in developing countries such as Iran that were designed and constructed prior to the 1970s. Three half-scale external RC beam-column joints were tested by applying lateral cyclic loading of increasing amplitudes. Tested specimens were comprised of one unit having seismic reinforcement detailing in accordance with the seismic requirements of ACI 318-11, and two units having non-seismic reinforcement detailing in accordance with the 1970s construction practice in many developing countries, such as Iran. Two typical defects were considered for the non-seismic units, being the absence of transverse steel hoops and insufficient bond capacity of beam bottom reinforcing bars in the joint region. Test results indicated that the non-seismically detailed specimens had a high rate of strength and stiffness degradation when compared to the seismically detailed specimen, which was attributed primarily to the joint shear failure or bond failure of the beam bottom bars. The non-seismically detailed specimens also showed a 30% reduction in both average strength and ductility and a 60% loss of energy dissipation capacity in comparison to the seismically detailed specimen.     

Reviews

Hafez: Dance of Life Michael Boylan, et. al. Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1987, 109 pp.

Once Upon a Time (Yeki Bud Yeki Nabud) Mohamad Ali Jamalzada. Translated by Heshmat Moayyad and Paul Sprachman. New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 1985. Modern Persian Literature Series, Number 6.

Banking and Empire in Iran: The History of the British Bank of the Middle East, Volume I Geoffrey Jones. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, xiii + 340 pp., plus 30 pp. of appendices, 36 of notes, and 12 of index.

Iranian Jewry's Hour of Peril and Heroism: A Study of Babai Ibn Lutfs Chronicle (1617–1662) Vera Basch Moreen. New York and Jerusalem: The American Academy of Jewish Research, 1987, xv + 247 pp. (American Academy for Jewish Research, Texts and Studies, Volume VI)

The Formation of Islamic Art Oleg Grabar. Revised and enlarged edition. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1987, xix + 232 pp., 131 illustrations, bibliography, index.

Language, Status, and Power William O. Beeman. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986, xx + 255 pp., bibliography (p. 213), notes (p. 236) and indices (p. 224).

Highlights of Persian Art Richard Ettinghausen and Ehsan Yarshater, eds. New York: Persian Art Series, no. 1, Bibliotheca Persica, 1982, xii + 391 pp, 250 illustrations in color and black and white.

The Iranian Military Under the Islamic Republic Nikola B. Schahgaldian, with the assistance of Gina Barkhordarian. Santa Monica: The Rand Corporation, 1987, 164 pp. $15.00.

The Origins of the Iranian‐American Alliance, 1941–1953 Mark Hamilton Lytle. New York and London: Holmes & Meier, 1987, xxi + 239 pp. $49.50

Cultural Foundation of Iranian Politics M. Reza Behnam. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1986, 188 pp. $19.95.

Sorayya in a Coma Esmail Fassih. London: Zed Books, 1985.

The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American‐Iranian Relations James Bill. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988, 520 pp.

The Iranian Revolution and the Islamic Republic Nikki Keddie and Eric Hoogland, eds. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1986, 246 pp. $14.95 paperback.

The Elementary Structures of Political Life: Rural Development in Pahlevi Iran Grace Goodell. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, 344 pp., bibliography and index to p. 362.

Moralia: Les Notions Morales dans la Litterature Persane du 3el9e au 7ell3e Siecle Charles‐Henri de Fouchecour. Paris: Institut Francais de Recherche en Iran, 1986, 514 pp.

Iran and the West: A Critical Bibliography Cyrus Ghani. London and New York: Kegan Paul International (Methuen Inc., Routledge & Kegan Paul), 1987, viii + 967 pp., index. $85.00.

Workers and Revolution in Iran Assef Bayat. London: Zed Books Ltd., 1987, 227 pp., including notes, bibliography, index.

Letters and Essays, 1886–1913 Mirza Abü‐Fadl Gulpaygani Translated and annotated by Juan R. I. Cole. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1985, n.p;

The Master in ‘Akka (Reprinted from The Life and Teachings of ‘Abbas Effendi, 2nd rev. ed., New York; London: Putnam, 1912) Myron H. Phelps. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1985, n.p;

In Iran: Studies in Badi and Baha'i History, Volume 3 Peter Smith, ed. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1986, n.p.

Selections from the Writings of E. G. Browne on the Badi and Baha'i Religions Moojan Momen, ed. Oxford: George Ronald, 1987, 499 pp. $29.50.

The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 6, The Timurid and Safavid Periods, Peter Jackson and the late Laurence Lockhart, eds., Cambridge, 1986, xxiii, 1987 pp. 72 plates.

The Iran‐Iraq War and Western Security, 1984–1987: Strategic Implications and Policy Options Anthony H. Cordesman. London: Jane's Publishing Company Limited, 1987, 185 pp.

Mission to Tehran General Robert E. Huyser. New York: Harper and Row, 1986, ix + 298 pp., index to p. 306. $20.95.

Garden of the Brave in War Terence O'Donnell. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988, 216 pp.

Agriculture and Regional Development in Iran, 1962–1978 Nima Nattagh, Cambridgeshire, England: Menas Studies in Continuity and Change, Middle East and North African Studies Press Limited, 19, 105 pp. $7.00 paperback.

The Gulf War: The Origins and Implications of the Iran‐Iraq Conflict Majid Khadduri. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988, 173 pp., notes, appendices, and index to p. 236. $24.95 hardback.

Gurgan Faiences Mehdi Bahrami. Cairo: Le Scribe Egyptien, 1949; reprint edition Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, 1988, 134 pp., 48 pls. $39.95 hardback.

Arda Wiraz Namag. The Iranian ‘Divina Commedia’. Fereydun Vahman. London and Malmo: Scandinavian Institue of Asian Studies Monograph Series no. 53, Curzon Press, 1986, 326 pp.