Reza Zia-Ebrahimi. The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism: Race and the Politics of Dislocation.

Abstract

Reza Zia-Ebrahimi revisits the work of two intellectuals who founded modern Iranian nationalism. These thinkers cast pre-Islamic Iran as a golden age, radicalized Islam as an alien religion, and portrayed Arabs as implacable others, ultimately tying Iran to Europe and the Aryan race. Acknowledgments -- Note on transliteration and spelling -- Introduction -- 1. The paleontology of Iranian nationalism -- 2. Akhundzadeh and Kermani: the emergence of dislocative nationalism -- 3. Pre-Islamic Iran and archaistic frenzy -- 4. Of lizard eaters and invasions: the import of European racial thought -- 5. Europe, that faraway but close idol -- 6. Aryanism and dislocation -- 7. The road to officialdom -- 8. Triumph -- Conclusion: The failure of dislocative nationalism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.