Iran and the Aryan myth* David Motadel

 

Iran and the Aryan myth*

David Motadel

https://www.davidmotadel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MotadelAryans.pdf

 

Few terms in modern history have developed a similar vigour and significance as

the word ‘Aryan’. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, the term became a

strong political concept which had a notable impact on the construction of ethnic

and national identities in both the European and the non-European world. This

chapter presents an account of the origins, evolution and politicisation of the term

‘Aryan’ in modern Europe, concluding with a brief sketch of its significance in the

non-European world, specifically in Iran, since the late nineteenth century. The

purpose of the article is to rethink the often underestimated role that Iran played

in the history of myths about the ‘Aryan’, both in European debates and in Iranian

nationalist discourse.1

The history of the term ‘Aryan’ can be seen as a series of conceptualisations and re-conceptualisations. This chapter endeavours to draw attention

to the actual change and variation in the meaning of the expression over

time,2

 exploring the rediscovery of the ancient term by European scholars

of the late eighteenth century, its introduction into historical literature and

linguistics in the early nineteenth century, and the subsequent conceptualising

of ‘Aryans’ as an Indo-European people (I); the re-conceptualising of ‘Aryans’

as an Indo-European race (II); the evolution and abstraction of the term

‘Aryan’ within European race theories, and its politicisation and popularisation in the late nineteenth century (III); and the political instrumentalisation,

particularly discourses about the ‘Aryan’ in Nazi Germany (IV).

I conclude with an examination of the reception of European ideas about the

‘Aryan’ in the non-European world, specifically its reception by Iranian nationalists (V). The century-long terminological evolution of the term did result in a

diversification of meaning. (...)  click the link above to continue reading...