The discovery of Iran : Taghi Arani, a radical cosmopolitanism

"The Discovery of Iran examines the history of Iranian nationalism afresh through the life and work of Taghi Arani, the founder of Iran's first Marxist journal, "Donya." In his quest to imagine a future for Iran open to the scientific riches of the modern world and the historical diversity of its own people, Arani combined Marxist materialism and a cosmopolitan ethics of progress. He sought to reconcile Iran to its post-Islamic past rejected by Persian purists and romanticized by their traditionalist counterparts, while orienting its present toward the modern West in all its complex and conflicting facets. As Ali Mirsepassi shows, Arani's cosmopolitanism complicates the conventional wisdom that racial exclusivism was an insoluble feature of twentieth-century Iranian nationalism. In cultural spaces like "Donya," Arani and his contemporaries engaged vibrant debates about national identity, history, and Iran's place in the modern world. In exploring Arani's short but remarkable life and writings, Ali Mirsepassi challenges the image of Interwar Iran as dominated by the Pahlavi state to uncover fertile intellectual spaces in which civic nationalism flourished"-- Provided by publisher This book examines the history of Iranian nationalism afresh through the life and work of Taghi Arani, the founder of Iran's first Marxist journal, Donya. In his quest to imagine a future for Iran open to the scientific riches of the modern world and the historical diversity of its own people, Arani combined Marxist materialism and a cosmopolitan ethics of progress. He sought to reconcile Iran to its post-Islamic past, rejected by Persian purists and romanticized by their traditionalist counterparts, while orienting its present toward the modern West in all its complex and conflicting facets. As the book shows, Arani's cosmopolitanism complicates the conventional wisdom that racial exclusivism was an insoluble feature of twentieth-century Iranian nationalism. In cultural spaces like Donya, Arani and his contemporaries engaged vibrant debates about national identity, history, and Iran's place in the modern world. In exploring Arani's short but remarkable life and writings, the book challenges the image of Interwar Iran as dominated by the Pahlavi state to uncover fertile intellectual spaces in which civic nationalism flourished. Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Note on Transliteration 12 Timeline: Taghi Arani’s Life and Work 14 INTRODUCTION: Iranian Nationalism, Revisited 20 1 Transnational Cosmopolitanism: Arani’s Life and Times 52 2 Among the Nationalists in Berlin, 1922–1929 90 3 Arani’s Early Writings: A Racialized National Narrative 104 4 For a Radical Cosmopolitan Iran 125 5 The Persian Language, Past and Present 145 6 .Erfan, Reason, and the Nation 160 CONCLUSION: An Unfinished Iranian Enlightenment 177 Notes 190 Selected Bibliography 212 Index 218 A 218 B 219 C 219 D 220 E 220 F 221 G 221 H 221 I 221 J 223 K 223 L 223 M 223 N 224 O 224 P 224 Q 225 R 226 S 226 T 227 U 227 V 227 W 227 Y 228 Z 228