Performing the Iranian State: Visual Culture and Representations of Iranian Identity (Anthem Middle East Studies) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 085728293X ISBN 13: 9780857282934

Verlag: Anthem Press, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

This book discusses what it means to “perform the State,” what this action means in relation to the country of Iran and how these various performances are represented. The concept of the “State” as a modern phenomenon has had a powerful impact on the formation of the individual and collective, as well as on determining how political entities are perceived in their interactions with one another in the current global arena.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Edited by Staci Gem Scheiwiller 

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Performing the Iranian State

Visual Culture and Representations of Iranian Identity

By Staci Gem Scheiwiller

Wimbledon Publishing Company

Copyright © 2013 Staci Gem Scheiwiller
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-85728-293-4

Contents

Acknowledgments, vii, 
A Note on Transliteration, ix, 
1. Introduction: Setting the Stage Staci Gem Scheiwiller, 1, 
I The Qajar Dynasty: 1786–1925, 
2. The Photographic Source for a Qajar Painting Donna Stein, 23, 
3. Cartographic Desires: Some Reflections on the Shahr-e Farang (Peepshow) and Modern Iran Staci Gem Scheiwiller, 33, 
4. Takkiyeh Dowlat: The Qajar Theater State Babak Rahimi, 55, 
II The Pahlavi Dynasty (1925–1979) and Transitional Period after the Iranian Revolution (1978–1979), 
5. For the Love of her People: An Interview with Farah Diba about the Pahlavi Programs for the Arts in Iran Donna Stein, 75, 
6. Shaping and Portraying Identity at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (1977–2005) Alisa Eimen, 83, 
7. Seismic Shifts across Political Zones in Contemporary Iranian Art: The Poetics of Knowledge, Knowing and Identity Abbas Daneshvari, 101, 
III The Islamic Republic: 1979–Present, 
8. Performativity and Ritual Space in Postrevolutionary Tehran David Simonowitz, 123, 
9. Reclaiming Cultural Space: The Artist's Performativity versus the State's Expectations in Contemporary Iran Hamid Keshmirshekan, 145, 
10. Female Trouble: Melancholia and Allegory in Contemporary Iranian Art Andrea D. Fitzpatrick, 157, 
IV The Iranian Diaspora, 
11. Performing Visual Strategies: Representational Concepts of Female Iranian Identity in Contemporary Photography and Video Art Julia Allerstorfer, 173, 
12. Painted and Animated Metaphors: An Interview with Artist Alireza Darvish Mina Zand Siegel and Carmen Pérez González, 193, 
13. In the House of Fatemeh: Revisiting Shirin Neshat's Photographic Series Women of Allah Staci Gem Scheiwiller, 201, 
Illustrations, 221, 
List of Contributors, 247, 

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE STAGE

Staci Gem Scheiwiller

What does it mean to "perform the State," and in particular, what does this action mean in relation to the country of Iran? The concept of the "State" as a modern phenomenon has had a powerful impact on the formation of the individual and the collective, as well as on determining how political entities are perceived in their interactions with one another in the current global arena. In a time of mass globalization and hypercapitalism, State identities have become strengthened, as they demonstrate formidable presences in the globalized media, including satellite transmissions, the Internet and cellular phone communications. There has always been some sort of global contact, such as the silk roads that connected Asia, Africa and Europe, or the intricate infrastructure that led most of the ancient world back to Rome. Yet, increased daily contact between all geographic locations since the height of European imperialism during the nineteenth century has created a situation in which average persons are perpetually performing State identities for the world to see. The democratization of media has made us all international ambassadors, so to speak. Investigations of how these particular State identities may be formed, represented, disseminated, comprehended and maintained are crucial to discovering how structures of knowledge are constructed in relation to the world and to us individually.

In response to these continual rapid changes in defining and representing oneself and one's relationship to others through the dynamic mediation of State apparatuses and global media, this collection of essays is an attempt to understand the individual's and group's relationships to the State and how this bidirectional interaction is performed and depicted, particularly in relation to the State of Iran. Furthermore, this collection of essays features a variety of case studies focusing on persons or groups who perform the Iranian State or a State of Iran as outlined, manifested and confronted by Iranian society, those in exile and the world at large.

"Performing the State" refers to an individual or a group of persons reenacting rituals, ceremonies, customs, traditions and laws, or donning certain guises that either accomplish the State's goals or rebel against them as forms of critique. Performativity may occur through a process of citationality, in which persons are transformed and molded into perceived constructions of identity (i.e., through propaganda, modeled behavior, societal pressure or a religious norm), or through materialization, in which persons engage in material discursive practices (i.e., walking through the city) and apparatuses (i.e., contact with institutions). This anthology examines various approaches to determining the Iranian State via the performativity of persons with the intention of illuminating how social practices, ideologies and identities are shaped, visualized, circulated and repeated–not only nationally, but also worldwide.

Two cartoons, produced by iranians and published in iran, comment on how the modern perception of Iran is performed and depicted at both home and abroad, presenting early examples of Iranian performativity. Both cartoons show "Iran" from the Constitutional Revolution (1906–11) and how the concept of world exhibitions in the colonial theater are mocked and later reconfigured (Figures 1.1, 1.2). In the first cartoon, a typical exposition depicting life in the capital city of Tehran, as it would have been shown in a European or American world fair, illustrates an underdeveloped country in comparison to those in Europe and North America. Three booths, aligned from right to left, are entitled kaleh-pazi (literally, head-cooking shop), dizi-pazi (meat stew shop) and haleem-pazi (meat porridge shop) and are shown selling these inexpensive cooked dishes, usually to poorer segments of society. Peddlers, dogs, cats and one donkey traverse the dirty unpaved streets. The scene seems rather dismal and undeveloped, considering that it takes place in the nation's capital.

In another cartoon, the State of Iran is depicted differently by showing a State celebration. The portrait of the king, Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1896–1906), rises above the architectural scene, centered with arms folded. His presence splits the composition into two parts. Flanking him are two flags that show the insignia of monarchial Iran, the lion and the sun. The slogan on the upper left-hand corner proclaims, "Became a constitutional monarchy; despotism was destroyed." This cartoon was published in the newspaper Kashkul (1907–1908) after the shah's death, as he had instated a constitutional monarchy on his deathbed in 1906. The then current shah Mohammad 'Ali (r. 1907–1909) is absent from the cartoon, perhaps because of his oppressive measures resulting in the Minor Tyranny of 1908. The words jashn-e melli (national celebration) flank Mozaffar al-Din Shah, indicating it is a gregarious event for the country. Historian Shiva Balaghi also confirms that the presence of lamps, mirrors and trays of sweets and flowers suggest that a festival is taking place.

Beneath the looming presence of the king are several groups of well-dressed men who are discussing the affairs of Iran. They seem to stand in a compressed, metaphorical State of Iran. On the far left, a mulla shows his displeasure with the constitutional monarchy to...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Anthem Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 085728293X
• ISBN 13: 9780857282934
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 260
• Herausgeber: Gem Scheiwiller Staci
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland