A Critical Review of Iran as Imagined Nation(مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
منبع:
Persica Antiqua, Volume ۶, Issue ۱۰, January ۲۰۲۶
85 - 97
حوزههای تخصصی:
The topic of Iranian identity is one that many are willing to recognize, while only a minority choose to reject it. The author of the book in question belongs to the latter group. The title suggests that the author intends to challenge both Iran and the historical foundations of Iranian and national identity. Influenced by contemporary theoretical discussions that overlook the historical and cultural contexts of the nations being examined, he tends to regard Iran and its national identity as constructs devised by Orientalists. He does not acknowledge the historical importance and development of the term "Iran" itself. The author of the book Iran as Imagined Nation: The Construction of National Identity, who draws inspiration from Edward Said's Orientalism and Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities, contends that both Iranian and non-Iranian authors view Iranian and national identity as a historical phenomenon. These authors, influenced by racial and ideological perspectives and western methodologies, have narrated history in a way that is both ahistorical and misleading, replacing genuine historical events with fabricated stories. This article does not critique every chapter of the book Iran as Imagined Nation: The Construction of National Identity. Instead, it will concentrate on chapters that present weak or incorrect claims regarding Iran's historical roots, its attributes, and its ethnic and linguistic diversity, with the aim of clarifying and illuminating these issues.