Revising Iranian Nationalist Historiography and Shaping a New Intellectual Field

Yıl 2020, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 5, 3456 - 3478, 29.12.2020

Naseraddin Alızadeh

https://doi.org/10.15869/itobiad.788062

Öz

Historiography is our narratives and interpretations about the past. As our views toward events change our beliefs about the past also transform over time. Hence, we need to regularly update and revise our narratives and interpretations about the past. Yet, revising history is not merely a scholarly occupation; rather it may cause severe reactions of the established system due to its vital role in the formation and continuity of social identities and political orders. This study analyses the main aspects of Iranian nationalist historiography criticized by revisionist scholars. To this end, in the first step, I discuss the concept of revisionism in historiography and its challenges to the established paradigms of official national histories. Then, I describe the main pillars of the nationalist historiography of Iran shaped under the influence of Aryanism and orientalism in the West, socio-political developments during the late Qajar era, and the foundation of the Pahlavi monarchy. Furthermore, I examine the main aspects of the nationalist historiography criticized or revised by revisionist scholars of Iran. The results of this study attest to the formation of networks among two groups of scholars: (a) those with Islamist tendencies inside of Iran and (b) secular scholars outside of Iran. While these networks and intra-group factions appear promising, a lack of serious inter-group debates among these scholars or between revisionists and proponents of the nationalist historiography produces the main obstacles to the formation of an intellectual field. Nevertheless, revisionist scholarly work has challenged nationalist historiography through criticizing or revising the Aryan myth, the claims as to the immortality/antiquity of the nation, national identity, the territory of Iran, and its time, space, inclusion, and exclusion policies. These critiques may fail to result in a shift in the national historiography in the short run. Paradigms resist anomalies and, as Kuhn also underlines, the sheer falsification mechanism hardly can lead to a shift in a dominant paradigm supported by a political regime. Nevertheless, the findings of this study suggest that criticism may attest to the arrival of new forces that defy nation-states as the patrons of the official national historiographies.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Historical Revisionism, Nationalist Historiography, Aryan Myth, Continuity, Authenticity, Iran

Iran Milliyetçi Tarihyazımının Gözeden Geçirilmesi ve Yeni Entelektüel Alanın Oluşumu

Öz

Tarihyazımı geçmişteki olaylarla ilgili anlatılarımız ve yorumlarımızdır. Olaylara olan bakışımız zamanla değiştiği gibi geçmişle ilgili düşüncelerimiz de değişebilir. Dolayısıyla, geçmişle ilgili anlatılarımızı ve yorumlarımızı sürekli gözden geçirip güncellemeliyiz. Oysa, tarihi gözden geçirmek salt bilimsel bir uğraşı değildir; tersine toplumsal kimliğin ve siyasi düzenin oluşumunda ve sürdürülmesindeki öneminden dolayı tarihin gözden geçirilmesi oturmuş düzenin sert tepkilerine neden olabilir. Bu çalışmada İran’ın milliyetçi/ulusal tarihyazımının revizyonist araştırmacılarca eleştirilen yönleri incelenmiştir. Bu amaçla, ilk aşamada ‘tarihyazımında revizyonizm’ bir kavram olarak açıklanmış ve ardından, revizyonizmin resmî ulusal tarihlerin paradigmalarına yönelik oluşturabileceği zorluklar ele alınmıştır. Sonraki aşamada ise Aryanist Oryantalizm, geç Kaçar dönemindeki sosyopolitik değişimler ve Pehlevi Krallığının kuruluşu gibi gelişmeler etkisinde oluşan İran milliyetçi tarihyazımının başlıca dayanakları tartışılmıştır. Ayrıca, İran ulusal tarihinin revizyonist araştırmacılarca eleştirilen en önemli yönleri de irdelenmiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre, ülke içindeki İslamcı ve ülke dışındaki seküler araştırmacıların bir bölümü arasında kurulan ağlar sonucu iki revizyonist grup oluşmuştur. Söz konusu grup-içi ağlar yeni bir entelektüel alanın oluşumunu olumlu etkileyebilir, ancak bir yandan gruplar-arası ve öte yandan revizyonistler ile milliyetçi tarihyazımının savunucuları arasında düşünsel tartışmaların gerçekleşmemesi bunun karşısında engel oluşturmaktadır. Bu eksikliklere karşın, revizyonistlerin çalışmaları Aryan miti, ‘eski’ İran milleti, milli kimliği ve toprakları anlayışını ve ulusal tarihin kapsama-dışlama siyasetlerini eleştirerek ulusal tarihyazımını sarsmayı başarmıştır. Ulusal tarihyazımına yönelik bu eleştiriler kendiliğinden paradigma değişimiyle sonuçlanmayabilir. Bunun temelindeki nedenler, Kuhn’in de vurguladığı gibi, paradigma değişiminin salt yanlışlama yöntemiyle gerçekleşmemesi ve oturmuş düzenin temellerini oluşturan baskın paradigmanın eleştirilere karşı direnç göstermesidir. Oysa, İran örneğinde görüldüğü gibi ulusal tarihyazımının eleştirisi onun kollayıcısı olan ulus-devletin de karşılaştığı zorlukları göstermektedir. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

Revizyonizm, Milliyetçi Tarihyazımı, Aryan Miti, Süreklilik, Özgünlük, Iran

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