Post-Colonial Era and Rethinking in Iranian Identity

Author

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Objectives: The current research aims to investigate the post-colonial approach and assess its theoretical possibilities for rethinking and reflecting on Iranian identity in the contemporary era. Methods: The present study is qualitative and based on a critical and comparative analysis of the post-colonial theory with an emphasis on identity and the issues that have made Iranian identity problematic. This investigation, which looks at the most important aspects of post-colonial theory, includes some of the important opinions and ideas in the field of contemporary identity in Iran, which can be compared in terms of common concerns. Results: Although Iran is one of the few countries that has not been directly colonized, it is not free from the problems of the colonial era, and in the identification of the recent era, it has faced the same problems that were raised in the post-colonial approach. Considering the multi-layered identity and their always complicated relationship, the important issue in this study is the quality of establishing a relationship between the components of the Iranian identity with each other on the one hand, and at the same time, facing the other in a new situation. Conclusion: Based on the post-colonial approach, redefining the Iranian identity requires a new rethinking of emerging identity requirements, which, on the one hand, requires taking a critical stance towards the dominance of the assumptions of the orientalist discourse and a passive tendency towards it, and on the other hand, must try to avoid the negative pole. In this regard, it is possible to avoid reactive and passive localism. Thus, in the context of the post-colonial era and context, away from the inherent epistemological dualisms, the possibility of establishing a new knowledge system based on the belief that identity is constructed, as well as the so-called hybrid nature of identity, is an important issue of redefining the identity of Iranians in the new era. Such a new rethinking is necessary for active interaction in the current world and for adopting a position beyond historical love and hatred.

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Main Subjects


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