Intellectual movements in Iran
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Intellectual movements in Iran involve the Iranian experience of modernity and its associated art, science, literature, poetry, and political structures that have been changing since the 19th century.
History of Iranian modernity
Long before the European Renaissance generated the radical ideas that eventually reshaped Europe and the United States, Persian statesmen, artists, and intellectuals had formulated ideas that strikingly anticipate those of modernity. Since more than thousand years ago there has been a conflict in Persia between the search for modernity and the forces of religious obscurantism.
Some twenty-five hundred years ago, when Herodotus was writing his Histories, Persia was the West's ultimate other.
It has been a common belief of scholars that modernity began in the West and is by its philosophical nature, economic underpinning, and cultural exigencies a uniquely western phenomenon. All other cultures, those who have lived on the darker side of Renaissance must emulate the Western experience, if they want to be modern. From Max Weber to Milan Kundera, many Western scholars and writers have argued that everything from representative democracy and rational thought to the art of the novel and the essay are not only western in origin but also uniquely suited to its culture, and native to its temperature climes.
Following Hegel in 19th-century Germany,
Western art, no less than history and theology, bear testimony to the ubiquity of the Persian presence in antiquity. Of all the extant works of Greek tragedy, for example, the only one that is about a non-Greek subject is Aeschylus' play The Persians.
Generations of Iranian intellectuals
First generation
The nineteenth century Persian reformers who are considered as the first generation of Iranian intellectuals were perfectly conscious of the fact that it was not enough to rely upon the antiquity of Persian civilization to think about its continued ability to survive. They tried to establish a relationship with men of power that would have permitted them to dictate their blueprints for reforms. These blueprints naturally remained without immediate impact among the men of power to whom they were addressed. These intellectual reforms encountered a widespread opposition from the court and the Ulama. Abd al-Rahim Talebof, Fath-'Ali Akhoundzadeh, and Sani o Doleh belong to this generation.
Second generation
The second generation intended to introduce modern civilization to Persia, not only by imitating the West, but through a coherent and systematic approach to European culture.
Third generation
The third generation of Iranian intellectuals signify the absorption of Russian Marxism into Iranian political and social thought. With the popularity of
Fourth generation
Fourth generation of Iranian intellectuals are mainly characterized by the journals such as Goftegu and Kiyan. In contrast with the ideological generation of Iranian intellectuals who in their encounter with the western modernity favoured a monistic attitude exemplified by Marxist and Heideggerian philosophies, the Fourth Generation of Iranian intellectuals decided on a move away and a critical distanciation from master ideologies. The methodological position of the new generation of Iranian intellectuals is characterized by two main philosophical attitudes: the extension of an
Modern art movement
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Sahabi1.jpg/220px-Sahabi1.jpg)
Iranian experience and development of modernity led to a unique style of cinema, painting and music. Iranian New wave, a movement in
In his book Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future[1] (2001) Hamid Dabashi describes modern Iranian cinema and the phenomenon of [Iranian] national cinema as a form of cultural modernity. According to Dabashi, "the visual possibility of seeing the historical person (as opposed to the eternal Qur'anic man) on screen is arguably the single most important event allowing Iranians access to modernity."
Mehdi Saeedi, is an internationally renowned artist and designer. His aesthetics have become a mainstay of design in many regions, especially in those using the Arabic script as their alphabet. And on November (2009) he won Grand Price for the Five Star Designers at International Invitational Poster Triennial in Osaka, Japan.[2][3]
On 13 December 2006, graphic designer,
It is believed that Ebrahim Golestan, Fereydoun Rahnema and Farrokh Ghaffari founded Iran's "different" cinematic style and Iranian intellectual movement in the 20th century.[5]
Marcos Grigorian and Hossein Zenderoudi were pioneers of Iranian modern painting and Sculpture.
Modern and contemporary architecture movement
Although the new era in Iranian architecture began with the rise of Safavid dynasty, (1501 - 1736), in fact, it is in the early decades of the twentieth century that the first generation of modern Iranian architects, almost like every generation of modern architects in the world, appears as being influenced by the Modern Movement and rationalism in architecture. Architects such as Vartan Hovanessian, Ali Sadegh, Mohsen Foroughi, Paul Akbar, Gabriel Guevrekian, Heydar Ghiai, Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian and Hooshang Seyhoun are examples of this movement.
Later, in the mid-1960s, Ali Sardar Afkhami,
Attention for the new trends in international architecture, is being carried out by Iranian architects, even after the Islamic Revolution. Like most architectural milieu of the world, in the 1980s the experiments on the transition from post-modernism to new developments, has influenced many Iranians architects, in architects such as Reza Daneshmir , Farhad Ahmadi , and Darab Diba.
In this context, It is of interest the attempt by some architects like Abbas Gharib or Bahram Shirdel to go in deep within the most advanced theory and trends in contemporary and Post-contemporary architecture, such as the theory of Complex systems in architecture in the case of Gharib and folding theory in the case of Shirdel. These experiments are valid methods and contribution to liberate architecture and design, from abstraction, flatness, stiffness, forced rectangular and Heterotopia of the modernist spaces for a more fluid, flexible, soft and dynamic architecture, open to the complexities of its environment and context
Music movement
Simultaneous with the constitutional revolution in Iran, young musicians sought new forms of music to synchronize with the tide of social changes. In 1937, Tehran's Symphonic Orchestra started working and performing western as well as Iranian music.
The 1979 revolution launched a renaissance in
New figures emerged in
Folk music also enjoyed the emergence of figures such as
Letters
Literary criticism and comparative literature in Iran entered a new phase in the 19th century.
Poetry after classics
Modern Persian poetry came into existence after Nima Yushij. Some notable figures include:
- Nima Yushij
- Bijan Jalali
- Fereydoon Moshiri
- Forough Farrokhzad
- Manouchehr Atashi
- Mehdi Akhavan-Sales
- Hushang Ebtehaj
- Ahmad Shamlou
- Mohammad Ali Sepanloo
- Mohammad Reza Shafiei-Kadkani
- Mohammad Zohari
- Simin Behbahani
- Sohrab Sepehri
Drama
After the translation of Mirza Fatali Akhundov's plays into Persian in the 19th century, Persian drama came into a new period. 20th century saw the appearance of great playwrights such as Bahram Beyzai and Akbar Radi.
Modern scientific movement
The history of modern science in Iran dates back to the year 1851 and the establishment of Darolfonoon – which was founded as a result of the efforts of Mirza Taghi Khan Amir Kabir, aiming at training and teaching Iranian experts on many fields of sciences, and it was the future minded Abbas Mirza who first dispatched students to Europe to obtain a western education.[7]
By the establishment of Tehran University, science in Iran entered a new phase.
One of the main Iranian scientific movements in the late 20th century was in the field of
- Other notable figures who promoted world-class research in Iran during the 20th century are
- Reza Mansouri and Yousof Sobouti (Physics)
- Abolhassan Farhoudi (Immunology)
- Mohammad Reza Zarrindast(Pharmacology)
- Fereydoun Davatchi (Rheumatology)
- Taher Movassaghian (Chemistry)
- Ardeshir Ghavamzadeh (Hematology)
- Ali Radmehr (Radiology)
- Hossein Najmabadi (Medical genetics)
- Hormoz Shams (Ophthalmology)
- Moslem Bahadori (Pathology)
- Hormoz Dabirashrafi (Obstetrics and Gynecology)
- Hossein Esteky (Neuroscience)[9]
- G.R. Baradaran Khosroshahi (Mathematics)
- Caro Lucas (Electrical Engg., AI)
- Jawad Salehi (Electrical Engg.)
- Ali Kaveh (Civil Engg.)
Iran's university population has swelled from 100,000 in 1979 to 2 million in 2006. Indeed, in Iran some 70% of science and engineering students are women.[10]
Iran is now a world leader in some areas like string theory. When a reporter for Nature asked Reza Mansouri: "Why do I see so many string theory papers coming out of Iran?" He explained how Iranian scientists worked together under revolution, sanctions and war to bring Iran to such a position: "I remember exactly the beginning of the revolution, some old colleagues just sat together and spoke about what we could do for Iran. Is it understood that we have to look for excellence, in some areas that we may be strong and that we may get strong at that so that will be the field of physics. So we began with that. It happens that the most active field physicists in our country were working on the string theory at that time. So they tried to be of a school, so to speak, and we did know that that was the only way which was somehow independent of all these political fluctuations regarding war, regarding cultural revolution, all that, and we really tried hard to build up schools. So we have it now, string schools, so to say somehow."[11]
In 2007 United Nations awarded Hossein Malek-Afzali with the prestigious UN Population Award. Malek Afzali has helped design strategies to improve health procedures, particularly adolescent health, reproductive health and family planning. In the field of reproductive health, he has engaged policymakers and religious leaders in the planning and implementation of reproductive health programmes in Iran.[12]
Iranian women's movement
Currently women's rights groups are among the most active social rights groups in Iran and are mostly involved in an effort to gain equal rights for women in the Iranian legal system by opposing specific discriminatory laws. However, under the Presidential regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, elected president in 2005, women's rights advocates have been beaten, jailed and persecuted.[13][14][15]
The presence of
In cinema and the visual arts,
Iranian writer and satirist,
Historical landmarks
Persian constitutional revolution
Iran had undergone a phenomenal constitutional revolution at the turn of the twentieth century. The
28 Mordad coup
In the
Mossadegh had sought to reduce the semi-absolute role of the Shah granted by the
A military government under GeneralIn August 2013 the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) admitted that it was involved in both the planning and the execution of the coup, including the bribing of Iranian politicians, security and army high-ranking officials, as well as pro-coup propaganda.[26] The CIA is quoted acknowledging the coup was carried out "under CIA direction" and "as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government."[27]
Iranian Revolution
Some researchers believe that the Iranian Revolution was not a simple clash between modernity and tradition but an attempt to accommodate modernity within a sense of authentic Islamic identity, culture and historical experience.[28] Perceived by many as a revolt against the secular modernity of the West, Iranian revolution was welcomed by some Western thinkers as a triumph of spiritual values over the profane world of capitalist materialism. For others the Iranian revolution was a protest against the very political rationality of the modern era.[29]
2nd of Khordad movement
The election of the former President
The scope of 2nd of Khordad movement was much broader than President Khatami's reform plan. The latter has been criticised for wanting slow progress and not producing a real democratic alternative for the current Islamic republic. When asked about this during Khatami's visit to United Kingdom, he said "You know for centuries we have been under dictatorship so we cannot get to a democracy all of a sudden, we have to go step by step"[31]
Campaigns against intellectuals
After the Iranian Revolution, the
Intellectual circles in late 20th century
Intellectual circles in postrevolutionary Iran can be classified into the following categories:
Revolutionary intellectual circles
The main figures in this category are
Reformist intellectual circles
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Mehdi_Bazargan.png/220px-Mehdi_Bazargan.png)
Main figures in this category are Mehdi Bazargan, Abdolkarim Soroush, Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari, Mostafa Malekian, Mohsen Kadivar, Alireza Alavitabar and Hossein Bashiriyeh.
The unifying traits of these intellectuals include their recognition of reform in the Islamic thought, democracy, civil society and religious pluralism and their opposition to the absolute supremacy of the
Influenced by Persian mysticism, Soroush advocated a type of reformist Islam that went beyond most liberal Muslim thinkers of the 20th century and argued that the search for reconciliation of Islam and democracy was not a matter of simply finding appropriate phrases in the Qur'an that were in agreement with modern science, democracy, or human rights. Drawing on the works of
Other influential figures in these circles are
Perhaps the most important achievement of this circle was training a new generation of Iranian intellectuals who are far ahead of their mentors and do not belong to any of well-established intellectual circles in Iran. Ahmad Zeidabadi and Mehdi Jami belong to this new generation of Persian scholars.
Democratic religious circles (In-system reformers)
These groups are characterized by the followings:
- Support for Islamic republic as the best form of government
- Calling for Religious tolerance
- Calling for democratic values
- Rejecting liberalism
- Rejecting secularism
- Calling for the rule of law and civil society
- They believe that ethics has priority over politics.
The main thinker and theorist of this circle is
Neo-conservative intellectual circles
Unlike the reformist intellectuals, the neo- conservative intellectuals in Iran are in favor of the supremacy of the Leader and against concepts such as democracy, civil society and pluralism. This movement includes figures such as
Non-religious intellectual circles
Main figures in this category are
Javad Tabtabaei deplores the deep roots of religion in the Iranian culture. For Tabatabai, the decline of the Iranian political thought goes back to the 9th and 10th centuries and, since then, it has been impossible for them to adequately understand the modernity. The social sciences, according to him, have been introduced in Iran without the secularization of thought and its rationalization and therefore, they reproduce in an unconscious way the ancient prejudices and the inability to think adequately. Dariush Shayegan criticizes a view of religion that does not take into account the major trends of the modern world where cultural homogeneity and religious absolutism are questioned. The quest for a holistic identity based on a monolithic view of Islam is alien to the evolution of modern world and means the isolation and regression of the (Iranian) society.
Dariush Shayegan, who writes mainly in French (but has been extensively translated into Persian), shares some of the views of these particular intellectuals, but his major contribution is to invite Iranians to accept the ‘‘fragmented identity’’ of the modern world and to renounce a unitary view of the Self which leads to a fascination with utopian and mythological ideologies. He insists that, since Iran has undergone the change directly from tradition to postmodernity without the mediation of modernity, it is experiencing a strong malaise. His solution is to open up Iran to the new multicultural world in which one has to accept the diversity of the perspectives and, therefore, to be tolerant towards others who do not think and behave in the same way as the Self. This invitation to become open-minded and to give up the idea of a homogeneous culture exerts an undeniable influence on many young people in Iran.
Traditional scholars
The most notable circle was associated with
Other notable figures
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/MoslemBahadori.jpg/220px-MoslemBahadori.jpg)
There are several intellectual figures who continue to be very influential in Iranian society, while they do not belong to any of the above-mentioned philosophical circles:
Scholars:
- Yadollah Sahabi, prominent academic, writer and scientist
- Mohammad Gharib, pioneering physician and academic
- Fereydoun Hoveyda(prominent scholar, writer and filmmaker)
- Daryoush Ashouri(prominent scholar, linguist and cultural theorist)
- Masoud Behnoud (prominent journalist and writer)
- Parviz Varjavand (scholar, archeologist and expert of cultural heritage)
- Farrokhroo Parsa (scholar, politician and physician; first female minister of Iran)
Economists:
- Mousa Ghaninejad (senior Iranian economist)
- Fariborz Rais-Dana(senior economist)
Experts on law and political sciences:
- Davoud Hermidas-Bavand (prominent scholar and political scientist)
- Nasser Katouzian (Tehran University professor of law and political sciences)
- Jamshid Momtaz (Tehran University professor of international law)
- Javad Zarif(prominent scholar, political analyst and expert on international relations)
- Sadeq Zibakalam(leading political scientist and professor of Tehran University)
- Amir Attaran lawyer and immunologist; expert on public health and global development issues.
- USSRat Tehran University)
Philosophy education in Iran
Philosophy has become a popular subject of study during last few decades in Iran. Comparing the number of philosophy books currently published in Iran with that in other countries, Iran possibly ranks first in this field but it is definitely on top in terms of publishing philosophy books. Currently different approaches are working in a diverging fields of philosophy:
- 1. Traditional Persian Islamic philosophy. traditional classic philosophy revived after a period of silence, in Tehran School, and notably works of Agha Ali Modarres Zonoozi in the early 20th century, after him both schools of Tehran and Ghom (with the works of Allameh Tabatabai and Imam Ruhollah Khomayni) activated philosophical debates. Nowaday, Islamic philosophy is the most fresh period all over the world in Iran all the way after Sfavid school of Isfahan. The most notable figures of our time include Allameh Hossein tabatabaii, Allameh Rafiai Gazvini, Mehdi Hayeri Yazdi, Falatouri, Hasan zadeh Amoli, Morteza Motahhari, Abolhasan Jelveh, Mohammad tagi Amoli, allameh hossein Gharavi Isfahani (kompani), Ibrahim Ashtiyani, Jalaloddin Ashtiyani, Kazem assar.
- 2. Western philosophy. The Western philosophy is mostly welcome to Iran in the 19th century, but its full development began in the 1970s, with the reactive movement against the left political thought of Soviet sect of Toodeh party, most notably by refutation of their Marxist–Leninist works (typically in Tagi Arani's works). The leading figures include Allameh Tabatabai, and his pupil Morteza Motahhari. Also moral philosophy introduced by Abdolkarim Soroush in the early 1980s, and followed by others. Philosophy of mind introduced to Iranian academia by Mahmoud Khatami, and philosophy of logic and philosophy of language introduced by Hamid Vahid Dastgerdi. Philosophy of religionis also most welcome branch with the Iranian scholars.
- 3. Comparative philosophy is a tendency in Iranian scholarship.
- 4. Traditionalist (sonnatgera)is also an approach introduced by Hossein Nasr.
See also
- History of philosophy
- History of ideas
- Intellectual history
- Iranian modern and contemporary art
- Iranian philosophy
- Isfahan School
- Persian literature
- Religious intellectualism in Iran
- Science and technology in Iran
References
- ^ Dabashi, Hamid (1 November 2001). "Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, and Future". Verso – via Amazon.
- ^ "Five Star Designers' Banquet - Outline".
- ^ Wanner, Rene. "Rene Wanner's Poster Page / News".
- ^ "The Visual Language of Reza Abedini". Archived from the original on 2007-01-25. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "BBCPersian.com".
- S2CID 37655037.
- ISBN 1-4039-6276-6p.34
- ^ IIAS (16 November 2015). "The Newsletter 31 Summer 2003" (PDF).
- ^ "Research Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Sciences".
- S2CID 2967719.
- ^ "Nature".
- ^ Section, United Nations News Service (2 May 2007). "UN News - Four laureates awarded UN Population Fund's highest honour".
- ^ UN: Hold Ahmadinejad Accountable for Iran Rights Crisis, Human Rights Watch, September 18, 2008; accessed September 21, 2008.
- New York Sun, Special to the Sun, October 17, 2007; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ victory on marriage legislation, Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2008; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ Women graduates challenge Iran, Francis Harrison, BBC, September 26, 2006; accessed September 21, 2008.
- Radio Free Europe, February 10, 2008; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ CLANDESTINE SERVICE HISTORY: OVERTHROW OF PREMIER MOSSADEQ OF IRAN, Mar. 1954: p iii.
- ISBN 9781845113476.
- ^ Bryne, Malcolm (18 August 2013). "CIA Admits It Was Behind Iran's Coup". Foreign Policy.
- ^ The CIA's history of the 1953 coup in Iran is made up of the following documents: a historian's note, a summary introduction, a lengthy narrative account written by Dr. Donald N. Wilber, and, as appendicies, five planning documents he attached. Published June 18, 2000 by The New York Times
- ^ a b Kressin, Wolfgang K. (May 1991). "Prime Minister Mossadegh and Ayatullah Kashani From Unity to Enmity: As Viewed from the American Embassy in Tehran, June 1950 – August 1953" (PDF). University of Texas at Austin. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 9, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780815609070.
- ^ ISBN 9780230115620.
- ^ U.S. foreign policy in perspective: clients, enemies and empire. David Sylvan, Stephen Majeski, p. 121.
- ^ Saeed Kamali Dehghan; Richard Norton-Taylor (19 August 2013). "CIA admits role in 1953 Iranian coup". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
- ^ "In declassified document, CIA acknowledges role in '53 Iran coup". Cnn.com. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
- ^ "Intellectual Discourse and the Politics of Modernization - Cambridge University Press".
- ^ "オリックス銀行カードローンを利用したときの体験談".
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- ^ "Tolerance, Moderation and the Dialogue of Civilizations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-10. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Iran :: Internal reform -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2006-04-18.
- ^ "Philosophy - Philosophy: Ontetics". Archived from the original on 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
Sources
- Latifiyan, Ali. Reviewing the Performance of Intellectuals from 1941 to 1979, (1995), Tehran: Imam Sadiq University
- ISBN 0-934211-90-6.
- The fourth generation of Iranian intellectuals, Ramin Jahanbegloo, (2000).
- Secularism, national identity, and the role of the intellectual, by Ramin Jahanbegloo, (2005).
- Ramin Jahanbegloo, Iranian intellectuals: from revolution to dissent
- Farhad Khosrokhavar, The New Intellectuals in Iran, Social Compass, Vol. 51, No. 2, 191-202 (2004)
- Afshin Matin-asgari, Iranian postmodernity: the rhetoric of irrationality?, Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 13, Number 1 / Spring (2004).
- Gheissari, Ali. Iranian Intellectuals in the 20th Century. Austin University of Texas Press, 1998.
External links
- Religious Intellectual and Political Action in the Reform Movement
- The next chapter: Atypical conversations with Daryush Shayegan on the impact of ideology in contemporary Iranian history
- Far Near Distance: Contemporary positions of Iranian artists
- The great land of the Sophy: Persian influences
- The Emergence and Development of Religious Intellectualism in Iran
- Sadeq Hedayat Centenary Symposium
- Amir Hossein Aryanpour, A rational man
- Coming to Terms with Modernity: Iranian intellectuals and the emerging public sphere
- The reform movement and the debate on modernity and tradition in contemporary Iran
- Abdolkarim Soroush; Iran's Democratic Voice Time magazine
- Amir Hossein Aryanpour, Prominent Iranian intellectual
- Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism
- Swedish scholar, Hans Rosling on Iranian experience of modernity (in Persian)