CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Hashemian, Ali |
|---|---|
| Title | Patriotism and Masculinity in Iranian Nationalist Discourse: Taqizadeh and Kaveh Periodical (1916-1922) |
| Summary | This thesis examines the intersection between the constructs of nationhood and manhood in the Iranian nationalist discourse of the early 1920s. The focus of this investigation lies on the questions of patriotism and masculinity in the pages of Kave (1916-1922), a periodical which was published in Berlin under the supervision of one of the most influential ideologues of Iranian nationalism, Sayyed Hasan Taqizadeh. The nationalist discourse generated in Kaveh rests on a set of historical, cultural, and scientific assumptions about European civilization, which shaped the gender politics of the interwar years and influenced the public perception of the modern ideals of manhood during the early Pahlavi era (1925-1941). Kaveh was published in two series. The wartime series of Kaveh (1916-1919) deals mostly with the events of the Great War. In Kaveh’s post-war series (1919-1922), Taqizadeh directed his attention to the social and cultural problems responsible for the deplorable state of affairs in the country. By tracing the conceptual shifts in the meaning of patriotism across the two series of Kaveh, this thesis demonstrates that the concept of patriotism in Kaveh is amenable to extend its meanings to conform to the changing nationalist demands while retaining its symbolic value as the main masculine property and a moral disposition of the progressive Iranian man. While in the early issues of Kaveh, patriotism is defined in terms congruent with the male propensity for defense of the motherland, in the post-war series of Kaveh, its connotations extend to the idea of productive citizenry. I argue that Western ideas about education, physical sports and sexual morality co-opted into the nationalist outlook of these Iranian émigré nationalists, inadvertently come to define, and redefine what it means to be a respectable man in a civilized nation. Furthermore, the thesis illustrates how Germany constitutes a cultural frame of reference in Kaveh’s nationalist discussions on issues such as education, military, sports, and patriotism. |
| Supervisor | Jones-Gailani, Nadia |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/hashemian_ali.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University