During the Iran-Iraq war, the Iranian government applied Shi’ite notions of martyrdom in order to mobilize people for the war and enhance its legitimacy. In this research, the question is analyzed...Show moreDuring the Iran-Iraq war, the Iranian government applied Shi’ite notions of martyrdom in order to mobilize people for the war and enhance its legitimacy. In this research, the question is analyzed how Persian memoirs by female authors on the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) have reflected the Iranian cult of martyrdom. Based on the scientific realm of (critical) memory studies, this study analyses the framing of martyrdom by investigating the Persian memoirs of Zahra Hoseyni: One Woman’s War: Da. In these memoirs, Hoseyni narrates how she grew up in the Iranian city of Khorramshahr amid the detrimental events of the Iran-Iraq war and how she participates in the war as a nurse and grave worker. This study suggests that the experiences of martyrdom by Persian women in their memoires are highly determined by their female perspective. In Da, Hoseyni alludes to Zaynab (626-682), the sister of the martyred imam Hoessein (626-68), as being an authority of morality. Though male narratives about the Iran-Iraq war would call upon the martyrdom of imam Hoessein himself, female memoirs imply that they feel more acquainted with the role of Zaynab. Besides, this study suggests that Da proves itself as an emancipatory publication, in which Hoseyni steadfastly objects to the conventional gender roles within the Iranian society. By portraying Hoseyni as an independent woman during the Iran-Iraq war, Da shows that conceptions of martyrdom in female Persian war memoires coincide with challenging views of women’s roles in public society.Show less
This thesis treats the concept of Neo-Sufism within a religio-political context, showing how Islamic mysticism could develop into a conservative and in some cases militant movement. The concept is...Show moreThis thesis treats the concept of Neo-Sufism within a religio-political context, showing how Islamic mysticism could develop into a conservative and in some cases militant movement. The concept is contextualised in current debates on the rise and devastating effects of Islamism. This study shows how both Islamism and Neo-Sufism base themselves on the same Islamic principles to justify their responses to modernism and Western Colonialism .Show less
This thesis looks into the various ways of how postrevolutionary Iranian filmmakers use visual, thematic and artistic tools to deliver criticism in the modern highly theocratic Iranian society. By...Show moreThis thesis looks into the various ways of how postrevolutionary Iranian filmmakers use visual, thematic and artistic tools to deliver criticism in the modern highly theocratic Iranian society. By describing historical backgrounds and showing paralels with other Iranian art forms such as literature and poetry and comparing Iranian art cinema with Western art cinema such as neorealism, these patterns and intentions are made clear.Show less
Research master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis examines the political role of national celebrations after the Islamic Revolution (1979) in Iran. Particularly, this thesis focuses on how many national celebrations in the Islamic...Show moreThis thesis examines the political role of national celebrations after the Islamic Revolution (1979) in Iran. Particularly, this thesis focuses on how many national celebrations in the Islamic Republic of Iran are an opportunity for the Iranian government to promote a specific political agenda, to strengthen national identity, to consolidate the ideals of the Islamic Revolution, to mobilise people for different socio-political purposes, and to bolster state's legitimacy. The establishment of a new national calendar of celebrations in post-revolutionary Iran has been crucial for the construction of a collective memory based on the relationship between politics and religion and for the building of an Islamic society.Show less
