Because The Current Leadership Class In Iran Has Nothing Better To Do . . .
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
It has now involved itself in minutiae:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered government and cultural bodies to use modified Persian words to replace foreign words that have crept into the language, such as "pizzas" which will now be known as "elastic loaves," state media reported Saturday.
The presidential decree, issued earlier this week, orders all governmental agencies, newspapers and publications to use words deemed more appropriate by the official language watchdog, the Farhangestan Zaban e Farsi, or Persian Academy, the Irna official news agency reported.
It should be noted that this kind of movement does not spring from a vacuum. Rather, it is a reaction against the commonly decried phenomenon of gharibzadegi or "Westoxification." The anti-gharibzadegi movement in Iran has traditionally been in favor of creating an Iranian social and cultural movement that is free from Western influences.
As a first-generation American whose family came from Iran, I certainly (and unsurprisingly) have no problem with an Iranian-Western cultural and social mix. And I know enough about Iranian history to know that previous attempts to rid Iran of foreign influences have met with failure. The last two Shahs of Iran (prior to the advent of the Islamic Revolution) sought to rid Iran of Arab and Muslim influences--largely seen as foreign by Persians--and to create a more authentically "Persian" culture and society. Naturally, Iranians who were/are used to the presence of foreign influences in Iranian culture did not like this attempt to rid the culture of those influences and that helped create the anti-royalist backlash that fueled the rise and victory of the Islamic Revolution. One of the key mistakes of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (the last Shah) was to replace the Islamic calendar with a Persian one that had as its beginning date the advent of the Achaemenid Empire headed by Cyrus the Great, as opposed to the hejira (flight) of Mohammad from Mecca to Medina. To say that this move got Iranians angry would be to understate matters.
Now it appears that the Islamic revolutionaries are making the same mistakes . . . only in reverse. And I have to ask: Is it really expected that Iranians will abandon the use of English words? How about French ones; as a matter of course, Iranians say "merci" in expressing thanks, "ascenseur" in talking about an elevator or "toilette" in describing the sanctum of private matters (it was not until I took French in the sixth grade that I learned that these words were French and not Farsi)? Is it really going to be worth it for the regime to put Iranians through this degree of social upheaval? Will Iranians not be offended and outraged by the actions of people like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in seeking to root out cultural influences that have been the part of any Iranian's life since birth?
Politicians who want to survive and thrive are well-advised not to unnecessarily seek trouble. Right now, that appears to be what the Islamic regime is doing. May it get what it deserves in response.
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Because The Current Leadership Class In Iran Has Nothing Better To Do . . . 11 Comments (0 topical, 11 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Actually, France has been fighting the irrelevance of its language for decades...
I think the case of "freedom fries" is different since, after all, "French" is not a French word. If we artificially went from "Frites Francais(es?)" to "Freedom Fries" I would agree with the analogy.
...but the knee-jerk reaction of the Congressional commissary reminded me of the anti-sauerkraut sentiments of WW2... The darn food didn't hurt anybody! :)
Out of curiosity: how do kids trying to sound cool talk? In a lot of (non-English speaking) European countries, slang leans heavily toward English. Apparently, French also incorporates a lot of words of Northern African origin, and I wouldn't be surprised if other countries have interesting patterns of slang-borrowing.
In Iran, is there Penglish (or whatever?) Or is it more Arabic influenced? Or something else entirely?
Well, I was joking too, but I think there is a more serious point here in terms of the sauerkraut--then we were engaged in battle with a deadly enemy and I think that's different from an ostensibly peacable nation taking steps to "purify" its culture from corrupting outside influence. That's what sets off my warning bells.
The french try to enforce cultural guidelines on word usage. They try to prevent any kind of cultural borrowing from other languages. So E-mail, download, internet etc get expunged and replaced with propper well bred french words.
The French are most famous for this practice, but I think that large segments of non-English speaking populations would do the same thing if they could. Search for "Denglish" or "Spanglish." I mean, I guess the French get credit for trying somewhat harder than others, but angst over linguistic borrowing (I am patting myself on the back for this turn of phrase) is neither new nor limited to a couple countries
into a special group is the control of the group's language. However, it's generally more effective if done subtly, but I gather that's not Ahmadinejad's style. Let's see if he starts giving more public addresses in the evening hours, when folks are more venerable to suggestion and excitable (a Hitler technique).
Come on!!! Dinner Jacket needs to get on the stick. We need at least ONE Kristallnacht before the end of the year.
BTW, what's the over and under on how many of the Ayatollahs are going to take a Dirt Nap when Dinner Jacket has his Night of the Long Knives and siezes absolute power? I mean, shoot, he's got the Revolutionary Guards Corps leadership riddled with his entire gangsta posse.
Who knew my first apartment was actually a "cabin"?
In all seriousness, I have come to be somewhat suspicious of anyone who makes such a point of "cultural purity." It is rarely a good sign.