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Tamaddon o Farhang: Reflections on Persian Culture and Civilization (In Persian)

This panel was compiled by the Conference Program Team from independently submitted paper proposals.

Presentations

The Eternity of Time as Evinced in the Incorporated Narratives of Iranian Origin in The Thousand and One Nights
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In this paper I will attend to the shaping of time and the emergence of oral micronarratives in One Thousand and One Nights
In this author’s opinion, time in One Thousand and One Nights is not set in a linear fashion: Rather, time is limitless (infinite). The inclusion of oral Iranian micronarratives in this book deceives one into thinking that the treatment of time is systematic, that it has a beginning and an end, and that the book starts and ends in a classical manner. The succession of nights in the story is misleading on the same basis.
In my view, the Iranian oral narratives in this book form an expanding network of intertwined and parallel times. These narratives-- joining together, branching from one another, penetrating each other, and parting ways throughout epochs and centuries--encompass all the existing and undiscovered possibilities.
Works with specific time frames seem to be homogeneous, and One Thousand and One Nights appears to be so at the first glance. However, the emergence and appearance of oral Iranian micronarratives—each of which acts like an independent island, superficially attached to a totality—in fact denies the superficial homogeneity or totality of time. These micronarratives with their exotic ethnic-ritualistic and at times religious themes will be discussed with respect to their relation to the limitlessness of time in One Thousand and One Nights.
One distinctive characteristic of these micronarratives is their cultural and ritualistic undertow. This means that each one of these miconarratives can be considered illustrative of a particular Iranian view of concepts such as life and death, and also of theological and religious beliefs before and after the domination of Islam in Iran.
I will scrutinize in particular the role of multiplicity and lack of centrality based on the emergence of these oral Iranian micronarratives.

The Ilkhans and Tashayyo: External Motivation or Internal Development
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In the history of Iranian Shiism (Tashayyo), the Ilkhanid era is considered a crucial turning point, an “era of opportunity”, and a time of glory for Tashayyo. On the political scene, the effective presence of Tashayyo during the Mongol period started with the supposed role of the Shiites in the fall of the Sunni Caliphate in Baghdad in the middle of 12th century, and culminated in Oljeyto’s conversion to Shiism in the early 13th century. Historical sources, especially the Persian ones, do not provide detailed and clear accounts on the status of Tashayyo at that time, while Mamluk historians have been writing about it from an anti-Ilkhanid viewpoint. Consequently scholars have formed different hypotheses and analyses on the backgrounds, processes and dimensions of the growth of Tashayyo in this period, as well as on the attitudes of the Ilkhans towards it. Some have treated it as a political-military issue stemming from the long-term hostility between the Ilkhans and the Mamluks, and some have considered the favourable view of it as a personal predilection of the Ilkhanid court. This presentation is will critique and analyze the issue based on the reassessment of historical documents and narratives.

Safavid Garden Design Reconsidered: Bayramabad and the Topography of Kerman
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Scholars tend to think of garden design in Iran as a fixed scheme, a chahar-bagh, applied regardless of the topography or historical conditions of a garden. This article challenges the assumption of a prescribed garden model by focusing on the Garden of Bayramabad in Kerman. It is located in the strategically important valley, near the two citadels of Qal`a Dokhtar and Qal`a Ardeshir, in a region that, in addition to its beautiful natural landscape, has a very ancient history. Its unique placement in the foothill, and a riverbed which dries up in the summer and which predates any existing architectural and cultural landscape in the area, imply that the history of Beyrom Abad garden is older than what has been discussed in historical texts.
This garden is known from at least the early Safavid period when it was first laid out by Bayram Beg Afshar during the reign of Shah Ismail. Ganj Ali Khan repaired and refurbish the gardens late in the 16th century along with his town planning in Kerman.

The challenge with garden studies is in that gardens are ephemeral; they do not survive in their initial stage of design. This is also true with regards to the Bayramabad Gardens in both of its two stages of development. Ganj Ali Khan’s interventions, however, are relatively well documented in the Safavid chronicles of Kerman, in the famous vaqf of Ganj Ali Khan, and in related vaqf documents preserved at the Awqaf of Astane Ghodse Razavi. The evidence suggests that Ganj Ali Khan’s refurbishment and expansion of the Bayramabad Gardens was carefully calculated to take full advantage of the topography of the site, a fact that was probably also evident in the initial design of the gardens. While we can no longer trace the ‘first’ design, the landscaping features and freestanding buildings (pavilions and gates, for instance) of the period of Ganj Ali Khan indicate that the layout was adjusted to several site-specific aspects such as the sources and flow of water. With the help of descriptions, geological and geographical studies, Qajar maps and pertinent Safavid sources, this paper will highlight the design features that support my contention: such gardens as Bayramabad’s were not based on an ideal model but on a fresh design that was specific to the site.

Lithography during the Qajar Era: A Case Study of One of the Most Prominent Works of Ali-quli Khui
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The distinctive aesthetic characteristics of the art of the Qajar era have been examined in art history books and studies by Iranian and non-Iranian researchers. However, the art of the Qajar period also has traits that have not been studied so thoroughly. Since the art of each era reflects the culture and spirit of its time, it can be used as a gateway to the underlying layers of thoughts and desires of a nation that have given rise to these artistic expressions. Due to various reasons ranging from Iran’s societal order to barbarian lootings of the country, what is left of Iranian art since ancient times is only that which belongs to the courts. Even if artistic works were created for ordinary people, they were eventually destroyed by the hands of time.
During the Qajar era, however, it became possible for the Iranian artists to create art not only for the royalty but for ordinary people too. One of these popular art forms is lithography, which played a major role in raising the awareness of the masses. Due to the vast interaction of Iran with the West during the Qajar period, an innovative way of thinking emerged among Iranians. In the year 1813 when the Gulistan treaty was signed between Iran and Russia, a number of printing press machines were ordered from the Russians, and in 1817 the first publishing house was established in Tabriz. From then on, lead printing and then lithography became widespread in Iran. Iranians adapted this innovation to the Iranian conditions and created art forms that were in compliance with Iranian painting traditions. One of the artists of this era who was very active and left behind many works of art was Ali-Quli Khui.
This paper is divided into four sections: the first section will shortly attend to the life of Ali-Quli Khui; the second section will introduce the book, Ajaib al-Makhluqat; the third section will discuss the works of Ali-Quli khui in Ajaib al-Makhluqat; and the last section will compare and analyse Khui’s works with a number of other similar art works.

The Transition from Traditional Hikayats to Novel Literary Forms in the Prose Narratives from the Period of the Constitutional Revolution
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Despite the abundance of the scholarship on the Constitutional Revolution, very little attention has been paid to the literature of the time, and especially to its structural analysis, notwithstanding its great impact on the ensuing literary transformations. This paper attempts to provide some insight into factors that prompted the transformation of the literary structure in the decades prior to the Constitutional Revolution. This study is important not only because it promotes common knowledge about the language that was employed in the decades leading up to the Constitutional, but also because the comprehension of the political and social influences of this era on the literature of the time, would facilitate the understanding of the interactions between the society and literature in the decades that follow.
Drawing on a number of sample texts, the proposed paper will examine the transition of “the outlook” and “point of view” of literary narrators, as structural forms, in the decades leading up to the revolution. It investigates some of the elements that penetrated the elaborate literary forms inherited from the Safavid era, due to the critical outlook taken towards literature after the failures in the wars with Russia in the late eighteenth century. Such criticism-- first arising from the inability to create new forms-- were inspired by a return tothe past. However, with the decline of the glorious Bazgasht movement, a period emerged that can be called the era of epistolary, “belletristic” and essay-like writings. This paper shows how “letter-writing” offered new templates for the self-expression of the writer and narrator in the text. Among the samples used are Ibrahim Bayk’s Travelogue, where the character of Ibrahim Bayk, the first fictional (and not anecdotal) character in contemporary Iranian literature, foreshadowed the introduction of the novel; the writing of Abdulrahim Abutalib (Talibov), especially the book, Masalik al-Muhsinin, and excerpts of Charand va Parand which demonstrate the promotion of an “individualized” viewpoint.