Tehran – A Persian translation of the book Persian and Enlightenment by Cyrus Masluli, Whitney Manny and John Christian Rousen was released in Iranian bookstores.
Shahrbanoo Masoumi translated the book, and Qoqnoos’ publication published it on 358 pages, Mehr reported.
Since the 5th century BC, Persia has played an important role in representing the “other” in which European identity was built. What makes the Persian case unique in this process of identity formation is the ambiguous attitude that Europe has shown in its image of Persia.
Persia is undoubtedly the “oriental” nation most mentioned in early European writings, frequently mentioned in various discourses of Enlightenment, including theology, literature and political theory.
What was Persia’s appeal to such a diverse intellectual population in Enlightenment Europe? How did intellectuals get involved in the “facts” about Persia? How has the use of Persia contributed to the development of modern European identity? Originally published in 2021, the volume features an international group of scholars from various academic backgrounds addressing these and other questions related to Enlightenment’s involvement with Persia. In doing so, “Persia and Enlightenment” question the reductionist assessment of contemporary European encounters with the Middle East, where complex involvement in liberal and Islam conflicts or exaggerated orientalist conflicts.
By carefully studying Persia in the story of Enlightenment, this volume sheds new light on the complexity of intercultural encounters and the impact on the formation of collective identity.
Cyrus Masluori, Whitney Manny and John Christian Roulsen (all three scholars of political science) have brought together contributors from the US, France, Spain, Italy and Brazil to address the subject that has been attracting attention at least since Paul Hazard discussed the Persians of Montesquieu in “Las de Consciu, Europeen, 1680–1715).
In the introduction, Masluli and Manny present theoretical diversity as the best approach to the numerous connections between Persia and Enlightenment, distanced them from Edward Said’s Orientalism. At the same time, based on Foucault’s legacy of thinking, they suggest that “Persian importance to enlightenment may help us to better understand enlightenment and modernity,” and define enlightenment as “an effort to create a new narrative of European identity.”
This volume therefore argues for the superiority of representation and contributes to the study of how and why Europeans painted Persian perceptions to fight many battles. The breadth of subject matter and methodology allows for several tours on famous topics and sources. Article by Masluli and Lausen on European knowledge of Persia before enlightenment. Persian Manny’s discussion in the encyclopedia. And an article by Myrtille Méricam-Bourdet about Voltaire and Persia.
Cyrus Masroori is a professor of political theory at California State University San Marcos. His research interests include Persian political thought, utopian discourse, tolerance, and the history of Rumi’s thinking.
Whitney Manny teaches political theory at Cal Poly Pomona. Her current research focuses on the history of feminist thought in 18th century France, Britain and the United States. She is working on a monograph that explores the debate about women’s rights sparked by Jean Jacques Rousseau’s letter to Darrenbert.
John Christian Lowsen is a professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside.
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