Self-Orientalization and Dislocation: The Uses and Abuses of the “Aryan” Discourse in Iran

TY - JOUR

T1 - Self-Orientalization and Dislocation

T2 - The Uses and Abuses of the “Aryan” Discourse in Iran

AU - Zia-Ebrahimi, Reza

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - The claim to belong to the “Aryan race,” believed to be rooted in the ancient self-designation ariya, is a fundamental pillar of the Iranian nationalist discourse. This paper aims to show that in fact it is a twentieth-century import from Europe, where after being instrumentalized for colonial endeavors and Nazi atrocities, it has become almost completely discredited. Yet Iranians continue to nonchalantly refer to themselves as Aryans and the myth of the “land of Aryans” persists, even in academic circles. It will be argued that the reason for this resilience is the specific role Aryanism plays in Iranian identity politics, and the strategies designed to manage the trauma of the encounter with Europe.

AB - The claim to belong to the “Aryan race,” believed to be rooted in the ancient self-designation ariya, is a fundamental pillar of the Iranian nationalist discourse. This paper aims to show that in fact it is a twentieth-century import from Europe, where after being instrumentalized for colonial endeavors and Nazi atrocities, it has become almost completely discredited. Yet Iranians continue to nonchalantly refer to themselves as Aryans and the myth of the “land of Aryans” persists, even in academic circles. It will be argued that the reason for this resilience is the specific role Aryanism plays in Iranian identity politics, and the strategies designed to manage the trauma of the encounter with Europe.

KW - Iran

KW - Nationalism

KW - RACE

KW - Aryanism

KW - Qajar

KW - Pahlavi

U2 - 10.1080/00210862.2011.569326

DO - 10.1080/00210862.2011.569326

M3 - Article

SN - 0021-0862

VL - 44

SP - 445

EP - 472

JO - Iranian Studies

JF - Iranian Studies

IS - 4

M1 - 1

ER -