HERITAGE

Ariobarzanes

Persian commander who died for freedom

23-May-2011 (14 comments)
Little is known about Ariobarzanes (Old Persian Ariyabrdna) life or his exact birth date; however historical evidence tells us that he was born into a wealthy, noble Persian family and he is probably descended from the earlier satraps of Cyrus the Great, Darius I and Xerxes I. It is interesting to note the fact that high King Darius III had appointed him satrap (or viceroy) of Persis. It seems that in the past, this position had not existed>>>

MOSSADEQ

Crushing Democracy

1953 coup overthrew burgeoning Iranian democracy

18-May-2011 (35 comments)
The long term effect of the removal of Mossadeq was the Islamic Revolution of 1979. While the American public viewed the revolution as a spontaneous and unjustified act of defiance, for the people of Iran it was anything but. The revolution was the culmination of the previous twenty-five years of complete social and political repression of the Iranian people under the Shah. With the money and complicit approval of the United States, Mohammad Reza Shah sharply centralized political power beneath him>>>

IDEAS

نیم قرن لیبرالیسم اسلامی

نهضت آزادی ایران پنجاه ساله شد

18-May-2011 (3 comments)
نخستین بانیان و منادیان لیبرالیسم اسلامی روشنفکران فارسی یا آذری زبان بودند که در قفقاز، هند و سایر کشور های نزدیک به ایران سکونت داشتند و آشنائی شان با تفکر و فرهنگ غربی سابقه بیشتری از بومیان ایران داشت. در این برهه متفکرانی مانند احمد آقایف (1865-1939) و جمال الدین اسد آبادی (1838-1897) قرائت های بدیعی از لیبرال دموکراسی اسلامی را بدست دادند>>>

IDEAS

پنج دهه نهضت آزادی

در جستجوی حکومت الهی

16-May-2011 (3 comments)
اعضای نهضت آزادی سهمی قابل توجه در بر ساختن ايدئولوژی اسلامگرايی در ايران داشته‌اند، از طرح اسلامی کردن اقتصاد توسط محمود طالقانی تا اسلامی کردن تکامل توسط يدالله سحابی، و از اسلامی کردن علوم انسانی توسط علی شريعتی (از اعضای نهضت در خارج کشور) تا اسلامی کردن کار، ترموديناميک، پراگماتيسم، تعليم و تربيت، و باد و باران توسط مهدی بازرگان. بازرگان خود از سرآمدان ذکر نياز به توليد ايدئولوژی با استفاده از متن دين است (بعثت و ايدئولوژی)>>>

HERITAGE

Sasani Warrior

Sasani Warrior

Photo essay: Ancient soldier brought to life

by Ardeshir Radpour
11-May-2011 (18 comments)

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SEX

سکس و انقلاب ۳

درجامعه ی مردسالار – دین مردسالار ابراهیمی،عامل ایجاد فتنه و حس شهوت را در زنان جستجو می‌کند

29-Apr-2011
نظربه نگاه مردسالارانه که عنصر قدرت و عامل تسلط مرد بوده و زن زیردست و فرودست است طبیعتاً برای حفظ عدم فتنه گری و به خطر انداختن واحد خانواده، مرد تحت کنترل قرار نمی‌گیرد زیرا که وی قرار است خود عامل کنترل و یا فاعل کنترل باشد. بنابراین بخاطر نگاه این ادیان که زن را عامل از راه بدر کردن مردان می‌داند در وهله ی اول زن می بایست تحت کنترل قرار گرفته شود. اینجا کنترل به معنی پوشاندن چیزهایی که باعث برانگیختن میل جنسی مرد می‌شود است>>>

YADNAMEH

A Friend Remembers

Ehsan Yarshater on the late Nosratollah Amini

17-Apr-2011 (10 comments)
I became acquainted with Mr. Amini through a common friend, Dr. Mahmoud Sana’i, Professor of psychology at the University of Tehran. Sana’i was from Arak, the same city that Amini came from, and they were close friends. He introduced me to Amini and I became fascinated by his personality. He had a keen sense of humor, but what initially attracted me most was the amount of poetry that he could recite from memory and the effective way he recited them. Acquaintance led to friendship and to a deep admiration of his many qualities>>>

ART

Iranian 70's TV Cinema Radio

Iranian 70's TV Cinema Radio

Minimalist posters

by ramintork
08-Apr-2011 (16 comments)

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ART

When Iran went pop!

When Iran went pop!

Pre-revolution cultural images

by ramintork
08-Apr-2011

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ART

Frozen in time

Reinterpreting Iranian Pop Art with a new set of values

08-Apr-2011
The two art series that I am submitting relate to the culture of Iran during the 70s pre-revolution. The series "When Iran Went Pop!" was created back in early 2010, and the second series "Minimalist Posters for Iranian 70's TV Cinema Radio" I completed recently. Despite their appearance and titles the two series (that are closely related) are two conceptual works of Art disguised as a pop art and a minimalist series. I have used an Art school as a medium just as one might use tapestry or metal as mediums for conceptual work>>>

FOOD

From Koorosh to Khoresh

Cuisine of ancient Iran

03-Apr-2011 (5 comments)
Before Cyrus, Iran was made up of a collect of tribes and states. The diets of these people in Persia were very simple made up of bread, cheese and some forms of vegetables and fruit. By the early 6th century BC under Darius I, Iranian people’s diet was varied namely the nobles and kings. This included all sorts of meats, vegetables (imported from India and the banks of the Nile) nuts (from the hills of central Iran) and complex dishes>>>

ANTISEMITISM

صادق هدایت و برتری نژادی

سامی ستیزی در “درام تاریخی مازیار”

03-Apr-2011 (132 comments)
نمی دانم اما کافی‌ست که به آلبوم های خانوادگی عکس های دوران رضاشاه نگاه کنیم تا دریابیم که گذاشتن این نوع سبیل رواج همگانی داشته و مانند سبیل پرپشت ملی ‌گرایان و ریش شرعی اسلام ‌گرایان نشان از دلبستگی ‌های آرمانی می ‌دهد. در آن زمان تب هیتلردوستی در کشور بالا گرفته بود و طبیعتاً گذاشتن سبیل هیتلری نیز میان جوانان باب شده بود>>>

FILM

In Speechless Awe

The King's Speech: “ordinary” people facing “extraordinary” challenges

19-Feb-2011 (8 comments)
In a cyber age of mass communication with instant access to information, where all things past seem to be abruptly dismissed as obsolete, what makes an old fashioned film in a Victorian setting so appealing to contemporary audiences worldwide? … The mystery of The King’s Speech’s phenomenal success seems to equally astonish its director Tom Hooper as well as its talented cast of splendid actors notably Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter in the title roles>>>

KHOMEINI

Broken Hearted Prosecutor

Former member of the Shah's court argues a strong case

17-Feb-2011 (5 comments)
Dr. Hooshang Nahavandi, author of "Khomeini in France", is an Iranian writing about contemporary Iran, so his book accusing foreign powers of bringing Khomeini to power carries a tone of anger, sorrow and regret. When a writer says “J’accuse” it is no longer proper to ask whether he is an objective historian, but whether as aggrieved party and prosecutor he has brought sufficient evidence and argued eloquently enough to convince the jury. My verdict: guilty!>>>

SHAH

The King and Us

Why a biography of the Shah now?

12-Jan-2011 (25 comments)
There have been at least a dozen books on his life. Most have been “commissioned,” written to lionize or demonize him. Even those that were dedicated to finding and reporting the truths of his life were stymied by the fact that much remained hidden in still-classified documents, mired in adulating or acrimonious whispers, or marred by conspiracy theories concocted by his friends and his foes, or by himself. He was one of the pivotal figures of the second half of the twentieth century, and certainly one of the most tragic>>>