Institute of Iranian
Studies, University of St Andrews /
Iran Heritage Foundation
10-13th September 2009
|
Seuterri Map of Persia c1730 |
The Persian speaking world has enjoyed a long
tradition of historical writing which sought to situate the Iranian people
within a particular narrative of descent and historical development. These
narratives were to be challenged with the introduction of new historical methods
from Europe in the late 19th century. By the late 20th century there was a
dramatic increase in historical writing in Iran, partly as a consequence of the
need to produce new national narratives and partly a result of the demand
engendered by the growth in literacy and communications. The writing of history,
reflecting the realities of the day, has more often than not proved to be a
profoundly political act. Historical texts, narratives, and memoirs have all
sought to shape and define the way in which Iranians have thought of themselves
and their history. Yet for all the emphasis on national particularities,
historical writing has also been driven by means and methods determined by the
modern European tradition. Of particular importance in this regard was the
distinction created between historical writing and myth; a process which
resulted in much of the pre-modern Iranian historical tradition being confined
to the realm of literature.
This conference will seek to highlight a number
of these developments by assessing the traditions of historical writing in Iran
and situating them within broader trends in historiographical thought, in
particular the development of European historical narratives. Questions to be
addressed include the role of historical writing in the construction of
identity; myth and history, literature and the oral tradition; how do we
understand the development of a historical consciousness; what parallels can be
drawn between the Iranian and European traditions of historical writing; to what
extent does contemporary Iranian historical writing situate itself within a
European narrative.
Program
New Arts Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews
10-13 September 2009
A conference focusing on the developments in the
historiography of Iran in comparative perspective.
The conference Programme is subject to frequent
changes. For updates visit
here
Thursday 10th September Arrival and Registration
| 16:00 - 18:00 |
Registrations - New
Arts Building |
| 19:00 |
Welcome Drinks reception
- Lower Parliament Hall |
Friday 11th September - Day 1
| 8:00 - 8:45 |
Late Registration
(New Arts Building) |
| 8:45 - 9:00 |
Welcome Professor Ali M Ansari
Persia and Iran |
| 9:00 - 9:45 |
Keynote: Professor Michael
Bentley Historiography and Iran; the view from the West
[University of St Andrews] |
| 9:45 - 10:30 |
Keynote: Professor Bert Fragner
Persian Historiography [Austrian Academy of Sciences] |
| 10:30 - 11:15 |
Keynote: Professor Chris Lorenz
Comparative historiography [Free University of Amsterdam] |
| 11:15 - 11:45 |
Coffee |
| 11:45 - 13:30 |
Panel I The Early Modern Period
(Chair Professor Andrew Pettegree tbc)
Andrew Newman Safavid Historiography [University of
Edinburgh]
Lloyd Ridgeon Sufi's in Safavid Iran [University of Glasgow]
Mansour Sefatgol The Idea of Iran in the Safavid era
[University of Tehran]
Stephen Blake 'History and Chronology in Early Modern West and
South Asia: The Safavid Mughal, and Ottoman Empires' [University of
Minnesota]
Sanjay Garg Safavid-Mughal Relations: the numismatic evidence
[National Archives of India] |
| 13:30 - 14:30 |
Lunch |
| 14:30 - 16:30 |
Panel II - Nationalism and historiography
(Chair Professor Ali Ansari)
Mohammad Imanpour 'The Growth of historical nationalism and new
trends in historiography of Iranian in early 20 century: the Case of
Pirniya's Ancient History' [The Ferdowsi University of Mashad,
Iran]
Ali Mohammad Tarafdari 'A Research on "The Service or Treachery"
in History: Surveying of the Effects of Nationalism on Iran's
Historiography in the late Qajar Era until the end of Reza Shah
Pahlavi's Reign' [Encyclopeaedia Islamica Foundation, Iran]
Pejman Abdolmohammadi 'History, National Identity and Myths in the
Iranian Contemporary Political Thought: Mirza Fathali Akhundzadeh
(1812-1878), Mirza Agha Khan Kermani (1853-1896) and Hassan Taqizadeh
(1878-1970)' [University of Genoa, Italy]
Lindsay Allen "The New Crusade": pictorial reportage and America's
archaeological mission to Iran in the 1930s'. [King's College
London] |
| 16:30 - 17:00 |
Tea |
| 17:00 - 18:00 |
Keynote: Professor Abbas Milani
The Shah: Methodological Problems of a Biography
(Chair Michael Bentley)
|
| 19:30 |
Conference Dinner |
Saturday 12th September - Day 2
| 9:00 - 11:00 |
Panel III Antiquity
(Chair: Dr Tim Greenwood)
Touraj Daryaee Aspects of Sasanian Historiography [University
of California, Irvine]
Lynette Mitchell Herodotus' Persians and political freedom
[University of Exeter]
Mohsen Zakeri 'From "Two Centuries of Silence" to "The Dawn of
Islam". A new approach for writing the early Islamic history of Iran'
[der J. W. Goethe Universitδt, Frankfurt]
Asghar Montazeralqaem Local histories in the first three centuries
of Islam [University of Isfahan, Iran] |
| 11:00 - 11:30 |
Coffee |
| 11:30 - 12:30 |
Keynote: Professor Abbas Amanat
[Yale University]
The construction of Grand narratives
(Chair Dr Paul Luft) |
| 12:30 - 13:30 |
Lunch |
| 13:30 - 15:30 |
Panel IV The Mediaeval imagination
(Chair Professor Robert Hoyland)
Rob Bartlett Persia in the mediaeval imagination [University
of St Andrews]
Carole Hillenbrand Persian and Arabic historiography on the Great
Seljuqs of Iran [University of Edinburgh]
David Morgan Rashid al Din [University of Wisconsin-Madison]
Anja Pistor-Hatam 'History and Its Meaning in the Islamic Republic
of Iran: The Case of the Mongol Invasion and Rule' [Christian-Albrechts-
Universitδt, Kiel] |
| 15:30 - 16:00 |
Tea |
| 16:00 - 17:30 |
Panel V Persia in the Early Modern
Imagination
(Chair Dr Steve Murdoch)
Hafiz Abid Masood 'Renaissance Humanism, Classical Persia and 16th
Century English Drama' [University of Sussex]
Elisa Sabadini 'Persia in the western imagination: From reign of
freedom to land of oppression: 17th century Persia through Italian eyes'
[Universitα degli Studi di Milano]
Farhang Jahanpour Persia in the Western imagination |
| 17:30 - 19:00 |
Panel VI Memoirs
(Chair: tbc)
Shahram Kholdi 'Politics of Memory and the Historiography of the
1979 Revolution' [University of Manchester]
Mehrdad Amanat memoirs of Reyhani
Pedram Khosronejad The Ethnography of Sacred Defence Literature
[University of St Andrews] |
Sunday 13th September - Day 3
| 9:00 - 11:00 |
Panel VII Aryanism and its
discontents
(Chair: Dr Bernhard Struck)
Robert Irwin Gobineau and the construction of Aryanism
[School of Oriental and African Studies]
David Motadel 'Evolution and Transfer of the Term "Aryan" in
Modern Intellectual and Political History' [University of
Cambridge]
Menachem Merhavy 'From "The Great Civilization" to "False Cyrus"
Legacy of ancient Iran as reflected in Pahlavi discourse' [Tel Aviv
University] |
| 11:00 - 11:30 |
Coffee |
| 11:30 - 13:30 |
Panel VIII: Writing 20th
century History
(Chair Ali M Ansari)
Afshin Matin Asgari [California State University, LA]
Peter Sluglett - Writing the History of 20th century Iraq
[University of Utah]
Yadullah Shahibzadeh 'The Implications of Recent Historiographical
Trends in Iran' [University of Oslo, Norway]
|
| 13:30 - 14:00 |
Conclusion |
... Payvand News - 09/08/09 ... --
Bookmark/Share this post with:
Delicious |
Digg |
Facebook |
Furl |
Google |
Magnolia |
Newsvine |
Reddit |
Yahoo
