Ir The Iranian Identity - 3660 Words

Images from Iran: Iranian Identity in the Global World Globalization is defined as the ‘world becoming a small global village’ where all countries merge into a mosaic of one multicultural free communication of information village. Yet, if globalization is supposed to enhance the relationships between different cultures, making the whole world one nation, it drastically fails, due to the many differences between the world’s nations. Iran is one example of a country nation that has been detached from the global structure. With all the studies that have been made on Iran, the 1979 Revolution caused the West to treat Iran with great bias, in a similar fashion to the prevailing bias against the entire Eastern region. Iran has since been†¦show more content†¦I will analyze Iranian society, with reference to postcolonial theories employing different approaches. First, I will explain the general idea behind postcolonial theory, specifically orientalism, as it is one major approach in postcolonial studies. Then I wi ll look at some historical aspects of Iranian identity development, discussing various events that have affected the psyche of Iranians as a community. I will focus on Tehran’s metropolitan area as it is the major city in Iran. As an outsider to Iranian culture inside Iran I am aware that my approach will contain inherent bias, however, trying to limit this will be my goal throughout the essay. Also, limited space may not permit a long detailed view of all my research, but I shall attempt to convey my main point concisely. The main interest in postcolonial theory is what happens to people during and after colonialism. Splitting in straight lines self from other by purifying the self, is one discussion in postcolonial theory. Naturally, people view each other globally within the concept of ‘Them and Us’. One’s identity is often defined through encounters with differing cultures. Edward Said is considered the founder of postcolonial theory. In 1978 Said wrote a controversial book called Orientalism. He attempts to explain the geographical division between the West, the Occident and