Abstract
Historical research on western racial theories has grown exponentially in
the past few years. A number of scholars have also investigated various
cases of ethnic prejudice beyond the western pale, for instance against
Koreans in Japan or Muslims in India. Yet, little attention has been given
to the modalities in which European nineteenth-century racial thought
was adopted in other parts of the world. This article attempts to broach a
discussion on this under-analysed aspect of race studies by reviewing one
case, that of Arab-hatred in modern Iran. I argue that the intense hatred
of Arabs in Iranian nationalist texts derives from a racialized vision of
Iranian history born in nineteenth-century European texts. Racialized
historiography was selectively imported by the ideologues of Iranian
nationalism as it allowed them to explain Iran’s weakness in terms of a
loss of racial purity.
the past few years. A number of scholars have also investigated various
cases of ethnic prejudice beyond the western pale, for instance against
Koreans in Japan or Muslims in India. Yet, little attention has been given
to the modalities in which European nineteenth-century racial thought
was adopted in other parts of the world. This article attempts to broach a
discussion on this under-analysed aspect of race studies by reviewing one
case, that of Arab-hatred in modern Iran. I argue that the intense hatred
of Arabs in Iranian nationalist texts derives from a racialized vision of
Iranian history born in nineteenth-century European texts. Racialized
historiography was selectively imported by the ideologues of Iranian
nationalism as it allowed them to explain Iran’s weakness in terms of a
loss of racial purity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1043-1061 |
| Journal | ETHNIC AND RACIAL STUDIES |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 12 Nov 2012 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Iran
- RACE
- Miscegenation
- Nationalism
- Aryanism
- Arab-hatred