Iranian studies
Iranian studies (Persian: ايرانشناسی Īrānšenāsī), also referred to as Iranology and Iranistics, is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the history, literature, art and culture of Iranian peoples. It is a part of the wider field of Oriental studies.
Iranian studies is broader than and distinct from Persian studies, which is the study of the modern Persian language and literature specifically. The discipline of Iranian Studies focuses on broad trends in culture, history, language and other aspects of not only Persians, but also a variety of other contemporary and historical Iranian peoples, such as Azeris, Kurds, Lurs, Gilakis, Talysh, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Ossetians, Baluchis, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Parthians, Sogdians, Bactrians, Khwarazmians, Mazandaranis, etc.
Iranian Studies in pre-modern Iran
The medieval Iranian poet Ferdowsi, author of the Iranian national epic the Shahnameh, can be considered the "founder" of Iranian studies in the sense that in his work he made a deliberate effort to highlight Persian culture prior to the Arab conquests. In this sense Ferdowsi's nationalistic approach can be contrasted with that of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, the famous ninth-century Iranian historian whose History of the Prophets and Kings reflects a more specifically Islamic perspective. Ferdowsi's work follows earlier semi-historical works such as the lost Sasanian-era Khwaday-Namag.
Persian historiography strictly speaking begins with the Tarikh-i Mas'udi of Abulfazl Bayhaqi (995-1077), whose fluent prose style was highly influential on subsequent Persian literature. Persian historical writing reached its peak two centuries later with the Jami al-Tawarikh of Rashīd al-Dīn Fadhl-allāh Hamadānī (1247–1318). Other important historical works include the Tarikh-i Jahangushay by Ata-Malik Juvayni and the Zafarnamah of Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, a history of the Mongolian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane; 1370–1405).
Iranian Studies in modern Iran
Among the most prominent scholars of Iranian Studies in Iran during the twentieth century may be counted Badiozzaman Forouzanfar, Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, Zabihollah Safa, Mojtaba Minovi, Mohsen Abolqasemi, Ahmad Tafazzoli, Alireza Shapour Shahbazi,and Fereydoon Joneydi. The Loghat-nameh of Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda is the largest comprehensive Persian dictionary ever published, in 15 volumes (26, 000 pages).
Iranian Studies in Europe
European scholarly interest in Iranian language and civilization dates back to the late eighteenth century, with the emergence of comparative Indo-European linguistics and the translation of the Avesta by French scholar Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron. British interest in Persian was spurred by the fact that it was the administrative language of much of India; German scholars were attracted by the purported cultural links with Iran as a fellow "Aryan civilization".
The major European scholarly organization devoted to Iranian Studies is the Societas Iranologica Europea. The London-based Iran Heritage Foundation supports Iranian studies at several universities and sponsors a wide range of public cultural events.
Austria
France
- Institut d'études iraniennes, Sorbonne nouvelle
- Institut supérieur d'études historiques sur l'Iran
- Mondes iranien et indien, Centre national de recherche scientifique
Germany
- Institut für Iranistik, Freie Universität Berlin
- Seminar für Iranistik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Poland
- Zakład Iranistyki (Department of Iranian Studies), Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
- Zakład Iranistyki UW (Department of Iranian Studies) Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland
Scandinavia
Spain
UK
- British Institute for Persian Studies
- Arabic and Persian Studies, University of Cambridge
- Centre for Iranian Cultural Studies, Durham University
- Iran Heritage Foundation
- Oriental Institute, Oxford University
- Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews
- Centre for Iranian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
- Library for Iranian Studies (London)
Iranian Studies in North America
The first major American Iranist was Columbia University Professor A. V. Williams Jackson (1862-1937), a scholar of Indo-Iranian languages who is known for producing a grammar of the Avestan language. During the 1950s Richard Frye developed Iranian Studies at Harvard. An Iranian Studies program was created at UCLA in 1963 in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) that was established by Wolf Leslau a few years before, in 1959. The doctoral Program at UCLA (now the largest program in North America), was the home institution of Professor emeritus Hanns-Peter Schmidt who used to read Old Iranian and Old Indic (Indo-Iranistik), and is now led by M. Rahim Shayegan who also specializes in Ancient Iran. Other Universities where Iranian Studies are offered include the University of Chicago; Princeton University; Indiana University, Bloomington; and the University of Toronto. The Society for Iranian Studies (now the International Society for Iranian Studies) was founded by a group of Iranian graduate students in 1967 and began producing a journal, Iranian Studies. The field expanded considerably during the 1970s, with a number of Americans having served in the Peace Corps in Iran taking up academic positions. Close relations between Iran and the US facilitated the growth of academic programs as well as the Asia Institute in Shiraz and the American Institute of Iranian Studies.
The 1979 revolution initially reversed this trend; American academic centers in Iran were closed and their assets seized. Over the past three decades, lack of funding and the difficulty of research travel to Iran have been major obstacles to scholars based in North America. Nevertheless, the field has seen some important achievements such as the monumental Encyclopedia Iranica project led by retired Columbia University professor Ehsan Yarshater. In recent years several new centers for Iranian Studies have been established, notably at the University of California-Irvine, which is the first and oldest center established in the UC system, and the University of Maryland. Iranian Studies "initiatives" have been launched at the University of Toronto and the University of Oklahoma.
- The American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS)
- Columbia University, Center for Iranian Studies
- Foundation for Iranian Studies
- Harvard University, Iranian Studies
- ILEX Foundation
- International Society for Iranian Studies
- Iran Heritage Foundation America
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Iranian Studies Group
- Ohio State University, Middle East Studies Center
- San Francisco State University, Persian Studies
- Quinnipiac University, Center for Iranian Research and Analysis
- Stanford University, Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies
- University of Arizona, Persian and Iranian Studies
- University of California-Irvine, Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture
- University of California-Los Angeles, Iranian Studies
- University of Chicago, Iranian Pre-Historic Project
- University of Maryland, Roshan Center for Persian Studies
- University of Oklahoma, Center for Middle East Studies
- University of Texas at Austin, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
- University of Toronto, Iranian Studies Initiative
- University of Virginia, Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures
- University of Washington, Persian and Iranian Studies
Journals
- Abstracta Iranica
- Acta Iranica
- Analytica Iranica
- Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan
- Ars Orientalis
- DABIR
- Farhang-i Kerman
- Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies
- Indo-Iranica
- Indo-Iranian Journal (Previous publisher page, current publisher)
- Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies
- Iran Analysis Quarterly (ISG Journal)
- Iranica Antiqua edited by Department of Near Eastern Studies of Gent University
- Iran & the Caucasus
- Iranian Studies
- Iran-nameh: Armenian Journal of Oriental Studies
- Iranshinakht
- Iran Shenasi
- Iranica Antiqua
- Iranistische Mitteilungen
- The Journal of the Anthropology of the Contemporary Middle East and Central Eurasia (ACME)
- Namah-i Farhangistan
- Majallah-yi Zabanshinasi
- Manuscripta Orientalia (includes articles on Persian manuscripts etc.)
- Namah-i Farhangistan
- Persica. Jaarboek van het Genootschap Nederland-Iran
- Rahavard
- Studia Iranica
- Zabanshinasi
(Some of these authors have also written articles for the Encyclopædia Iranica)
Yarshater lectureship
The Yarshater lectureship is today the most prestigious honor in the field.
List of Iranologists
See also
- Indo-European Studies
- Iranian Languages
- Iranian World
- Culture of Iran
- Persian Literature
- Central Asian Studies
- Armenian Studies
- Turkology
- Assyriology
- Egyptology
- Academy of Persian Language and Literature
- Encyclopædia Iranica
- Encyclopædia Pahlavica www.Pahlavica.org
- Chicago's Persian heritage crisis
- International rankings of Iran
References
- Encyclopædia Iranica, Columbia University.
- A step toward developing Iranology researches, Khosrow Naghed.
- Chelle i.e. Bokhara, Mehdi Jami (2005)
External links
- Societas Iranologica Europea
- Scandinavian Society for Iranian Studies
- Swedish Contributions to the Archaeology of Iran Artikel i Fornvännen (2007) by Carl Nylander
- Foundation for Iranian Studies
- short courses in Iranology by Faculty of World Studies of Tehran university
- The American Institute of Iranian Studies
- International Society for Iranian Studies
- Bonyad e farhang e Iran
- Iran and Persian language in the western world (in Persian)
- From Sa'di to Simin: Iranology in the lands of germanic people (BBC Persian)
- 70-year-old problem of understanding Persian culture in the west (in Persian)
Library guides:
- "Guide to Sources on Iran: Bibliography". British Library.
- University Library. "Middle East Studies and Research: Iran". Course & Subject Guides. USA: University of Pittsburgh.
- Library. "Iranian Studies". Guides. Canada: McGill University.