CHAPTER 5 Imagining Iran before Nationalism: Geocultural Meanings of Land in Azar’s Atashkadeh

Persian orientalism: Raciolinguistic ideologies and the construction of ‘Iranianness’

“…Shaygan's intellectual framework is based on the revival of the traditional identity and Eshraghi wisdom, which was adopted and used by both Pahlavi and the Islamic Republic to define their politics of identity, justify their Persianist discourse and consolidate their political power. Shaygan's essentialist and primordial view of 'history and culture' is manifested Following Hodson, Iranian historians refer to the Persianate world as a vast 'geo-cultural world' (Kia, 2014) where its people are considered either Persian or Persian-speakers due to their use of the Persian language. Central to the idea of the Persianate world or 'societies' is the Persian language and literature, which is assumed to have defined the cultural and political boundaries of the Persianate world during major episodes of Islamic Civilisation history (see Arjomand, 2009).…”

“…Following Hodson, Iranian historians refer to the Persianate world as a vast ‘geo‐cultural world’ (Kia, 2014) where its people are considered either Persian or Persian‐speakers due to their use of the Persian language. Central to the idea of the Persianate world or ‘societies’ is the Persian language and literature, which is assumed to have defined the cultural and political boundaries of the Persianate world during major episodes of Islamic Civilisation history (see Arjomand, 2009).…”