Suchergebnisse

One of the most striking characteristics Iranian studies in Japan is government initiative. The government has long taken the initiative in establishing institutions and programs for such study. Particularly in the 1930s, the motivation for studying Iran was partly political and strategic. Since the late 1960s, however, there has been a more economic orientation. Another characteristic is that Iranian studies have developed within the framework of scholarship on the Middle East in general. For this reason, the general trend of Middle Eastern studies, as well as that of Iranian studies, will be discussed. It is logical to divide this trend into three eras: 1) the 1930s until the end of World War II, 2) the 1950s through the 1960s, and 3) the 1970s to the present.

One of the most remarkable developments in international film of recent memory is the emergence of a vibrant and creative film industry in Iran following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In light of worldwide acclaim for the work of Iranian filmmakers, scholars have pointed to a strong similarity between the style of these films and those of post-war Italian Neorealist filmmakers. By analyzing the works of three of Iran's leading directors, Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Majid Majidi and comparing them with the greatest Italian Neorealist film, The Bicycle Thief, this study will attempt to show how Iranians are working within the Neorealist tradition while at the same time making it distinctively their own.

The subject of historiography for the Iranian scholar has traditionally been of lesser importance than the actual writing of history. The problems and various techniques of historiography were little discussed and practically unknown until this century. Recently, several articles have appeared in Iranian journals which clearly indicate that Iranian historians intend to rectify this past imbalance. Furthermore, the publication of the journal Bar-rasī'hā-yi Tārīkhī (Historical Studies) suggests a renewed effort to present recent research and historiographical techniques in a more exacting and scientific manner than in the past.

Emigration from Afghanistan is the product of socio-political circumstances—drought, regime changes, wars—and economic structures—pastoralism and agricultural seasonal cycles—but it is also situated in a historical continuum of recurrent population movements on a regional scale. As a phenomenon, it has been well-researched in Pakistan, but has been less well understood from the Iranian side. However, many Afghans, notably but not exclusively Hazaras, have settled there since the end of the nineteenth century. Immigration from Afghanistan intensified from the 1970s onwards following the Iranian oil boom and drought in Afghanistan and the political turbulence in that country after 1978. The policies of the Islamic Republic towards this population have been both variable and inconsistent. Recently, their main priority has been the repatriation of Afghans in an atmosphere of both official and popular xenophobia. The experience of exile has resulted in important social changes, in particular with respect to education and the position of women. Moreover, the Afghan presence on Iranian soil appears to be irreversible: it satisfies economic needs, reflects the intensity of commercial exchanges between the two countries, and in itself constitutes a complex trans-border reality. Finally, it sustains a public and juridical debate on the definition of citizenship and appears to be inherent in the idea of the Iranian nation itself.

More than any other Factor, The Iranian Revolution of 1978–79 and its aftermath have contributed to the growth of the Iranian diaspora population worldwide. The revolution precipitated the exodus of Iranian exiles or political refugees, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran further discouraged the return of many Iranians already abroad. As a result, by about 1990, 637,500 Iranians were enumerated in official national censuses of the following ten countries on four continents: U.S., Canada, West Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, France, Norway, Australia, Israel, and Japan.With an Iranian population—defined as persons either born in Iran or of Iranian ancestry—of 285,000 in 1990, the U.S. contained nearly half (45%) of the Iranians living in the above-mentioned Western and Asian countries. This overwhelming concentration, an availability of good data on immigrants (including Iranians), and a number of Iranian students who have become social scientists in the U.S., have encouraged research on this group.

There is, in France, a pronounced awareness of an "Iranian world" that can be identified in terms of cultural, linguistic, ethnic (Aryan peoples) or geographic (highlands, cold winters) characteristics common to the civilizations of all Iranian-speaking peoples living in Afghanistan, Iran, Kurdistan or south central USSR, in particular, Tajikistan. This "world" stands in contrast to the Arab, Indian and Turkish ones. The notion of a Middle East extending from Casablanca to Kabul does not exist in French. Newspapers usually refer to the Moslem lands to the south and east of the Mediterranean as the "Arab world," as if Turkish- and Persian-speaking peoples were peripheral minorities therein.Owing to its colonial and military heritage, France has long given special importance to theMaghrib(Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria), the Near East (Lebanon and Syria, in particular) and, as a result of the Napoleonic campaigns and Champollion's expeditions, Egypt.

This is the published version, made available with the permission of the publisher. Copyright 2015, University of Nebraska, Omaha. ; Throughout the ruptures of Iran's history, Iranian women have been at the core of any social and political changes and challenges. In this historical context, Iranian women's body, sexuality, and individuality have been confined within the constitution of religion and tradition. In recent years, however, the new generation of Iranian women is negotiating the notions of femininity, sexuality, and modernity in Iran's society. Along with this negotiation, Iranian cinema, as the visual showcase of Iranian culture and society, has recently represented an unprecedented portrayal of Iranian women on the screen. This portrayal stems from the gender consciousness of Iranian women who are transgressing the boundaries of gender segregation and inequality. This study, therefore, provides an insight into the social and sexual changes of Iranian women's lives in today's Iran and analyzes the representation of these changes in Iranian post-revolutionary cinema, especially the recent decade.

Among other Middle Eastern countries, Iran and Turkey stand out as the two neighboring countries with many linguistic and cultural similarities. The question that comes to the fore is: to what extent do these two countries know each other? This article attempts to provide a picture of the state of Iranian Studies in Turkey with specific attention to three monographs originally written as PhD dissertations in various Turkish universities over the last three decades. Produced from within three different social science and humanities divisions, i.e. Political Science, Persian Literature and History, these are three of the very few scholarly monographs produced on Iran in Turkey. Based on a close reading of these studies, it seems possible to observe that they are mostly ill-balanced by methodological, ethnocentric as well as Turkish nationalist biases.

Recent research has found that discrimination against Islam and Muslims is deeply rooted in Australia. This report explores whether or how recent Iranian migrants have experienced racism, discrimination, or Islamaphobia in Sydney. These questions are explored by focusing on their experiences and issues regarding their making of new lives in Australia. This article suggests that recent Iranian migrants are experiencing far less discrimination than other Muslim diasporas in Sydney. Concluding that despite recent reports by some researchers grouping various Muslim populations together as regards Islamaphobia, there is a necessity for investigating discrimination, stereotyping, and Islamaphobia against particular diasporas to determine the needs of the Muslim population at large.

AbstractThis paper brings to light additional lexical material with regard to several items, primarily cultural terms, discussed already in the relevant literature. The material was recorded during recent field-work in various parts of the Iranian-speaking oikumene, including present-day Iran, western parts of Afghanistan, and Central Anatolia. The list of terms examined in this essay are: "bare-foot and naked", "step-child", "yawning", "snow, sleet, and dew", "threshing-floor", "mortar and pestle", "fork for winnowing grain", "plough-handle", "clothing, underwear, and shirt", and "Rhubarb (Rheam L.) and Purslane (Portulaca L.)".

The architecture of homes in Iran has changed significantly over the past four decades since the 1979 Iranian revolution. We ask how these architectural changes shift neighborhood relationships and how they transform the Iranians' hospitality rituals and practices. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of eighteen Iranian movies filmed after the 1979 revolution. They allowed us to make comparisons among various dwelling patterns and neighborhood relationships. We argue that the representations of neighborhood relationships reflect these changes, demonstrating the impact of architecture on interactions. Our focus in this article is on borders of privacy, power dynamics in the neighborhoods and among families, and communication forms to better understand the impact of changing architecture on hospitality through the lens of cinema. Additionally, we engage with Goffman's (1956) concepts of frontstage and backstage, demonstrating that these are not dichotomous, although they are opposites, and there can be a thinning of frontstage along with a thickening of backstage. Entrances to homes are often gradual, and visitors may gradually penetrate through layers of the frontstage as they become closer (emotionally and in space) to the heart of the home's (and its occupants') backstage.