Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 17، number In Volume 10، Junuary 2025 ، issue Number 104

Methods of reconstructing Iranian identity based on the model of "dualization of self and other" in Safir Simorgh's travelogue

Azam Khajavi , Nahid Azizi (Author in Charge), Fouzieh Parsa

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Drawing who is "I" and explaining the Iranian identity through highlighting the other has long been prominent in the works of Persian poets and writers, and this phenomenon was also prominently present in ancient and middle Iranian texts. In the Islamic period, with the repeated confrontation of Iranians with other ethnicities, nations, religions and cultures, in the form of invasions and arrivals of Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Uzbeks, Ottomans, and Europeans, the issue of restoring and reconstructing Iranian identity continued in Persian texts and especially From the Qajar period and the constitutional era onwards, it became a very bold and decisive element in Persian texts. In addition to military encounters with foreigners, factors such as immigration, trade, education and tourism also highlighted the duality of "self" and "other" and attempted to reconstruct the Iranian identity. According to theorists such as Bakhtin, Went and Foucault, self-awareness is rooted in the awareness of the other, and for this reason, the vast encounters of Iranians with foreigners in the contemporary period made the Iranian self and identity more prominent in contemporary Persian works. Travelogues that are travel reports in both their own land and another land are suitable examples for examining the efforts of Iranian writers and poets to explain Iranian identity through drawing another. In this article, relying on Safir Simorgh"s travelogue, which is the report of Muhammad Ali Eslami Nedoshan"s journey to both geographical and cultural fields of the self and the other, the application of the model of "dualization of the self and the other" in order to reconstruct the Iranian identity is examined.

METHODOLOGY: The research method of this article is based on two analytical and descriptive methods. First, the theoretical foundations of self and other discussion and the category of identity and Iranian identity are explained and described, and then the method of identity reconstruction through the drawing of self and other in Safir Simorgh"s travelogue by Mohammad Ali Eslami Nadushan is analyzed.

FINDINGS: In Safir Simorgh"s travelogue, Islami Nadushan seriously and carefully describes his identity as an Iranian who is fond of Iranian culture, history, literature and art. In line with the implementation of the model of "dualization of the self and the other", after describing the field of the self (Iranian cities), he draws the field of the other in a way that can be divided into three sub-fields: the othered self (Afghanistan), the selfed other (Turkey) and the absolute other ( Western countries) and in the mirror of these three other sub-areas, he draws his face (Iranian identity).

CONCLUSION: The method of reconstructing the Iranian self in Safir Simorgh is based on recounting the historical commonalities of Iran with the two spheres of the other self and the other self, and then mentioning the serious and obvious divisions of the Iranian identity with the lands of the other sphere. Another very obvious point about the way and style of Islamic work of Nadushan in Safir Simorgh is that this travelogue is not a trip in geography, but a trip in history, and geographical titles are an excuse for the author to travel in history. The result of this method is that in the territories of their domain (both self and other self), more than the description of the current differences, the commonalities of the past are discussed. On the other hand, in the lands of another field, the author is more satisfied in the present and the reason is the historical scarcity of other lands compared to the very long history of his own lands.

Keyword
travelogue , Safir Simorgh , Mohammad Ali Eslami Nadushan , self , other , Iranian identity.

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