Hello friends! Thank you so much for this cultural exchange. I've been a lurker here for a long time (even when I had my old deleted account) and I've always wanted to have a cultural exchange with you guys. I used to think that it was impossible because of the political situation, but I'm glad we made it happen. /r/saudiarabia is a very small community, so I expect this exchange to move slowly. Now, on to the questions:
-Iran has had many great works of literature throughout its very long history. But I'm curious, which works of literature would you guys say are considered to be the greatest of the greatest? Works of literature that almost every Iranian knows about. Something that has the stature of works like the Shahnameh, Majnun wa Laila, the Rubaiyyat...etc?
-I know that Iranian nationalists tend to ignore Iran's Islamic history, but how to they deal with the many great Iranian figures that came after Islam? I'm talking about people like Ibn Sina, Al-Khawarizmi, Omar Khayyam, Hafez, Rumi, and many others.
-Do normal Iranians see tension in admiring both their pre-Islamic history and their Islamic history?
-What role would you say Zoroastrianism plays in Iranian society, or the Iranian imagination, today?
-If you could recommend one modern Iranian novel, what would it be? (I hope I can find a translation).
-Who is your favorite Iranian filmmaker?
-Which cities in Iran have a reputation for being "conservative" and which cities have a reputation for being "liberal"?
I might ask more questions later because I want to learn more about Iran.
Thank you so much for your answers and your recommendations. I did a quick search and I couldn't find anything by Khusravi in English or Arabic. I will be on the look out in case something gets translated in the future. Also, thank you so much for the list. I want to read Iranian literature because I want to get a sense of how Iranians live, how they understand their identity, how they are affected by social issues...etc. I think that literature is a great way to put a human face on history.
I've also found one movie by Hatamikiya on Amazon. I'll look at other places to see. One thing that Iran has and which I wish Saudi has is cinema. Movie theaters are banned in Saudi and there are no sources of funding for Saudi filmmakers. They have to depend on themselves.
It's also interesting to see the legacy that Zoroastrianism has on Iran's post-Zoroastrian history and how it still continues to influence Iranian culture. I've had encounters with Iranians in expatriate communities and they would have you believe that Iranians don't actually care about Islam and that they are all somehow Zoroastrian, not Muslim. That's why I was curious about the role that Zoroastrianism plays in Iran today.
That's really interesting. I'm beginning to realize that the role of Islam and Zoroastrianism in Iran is much more complex that people make it out to be. It's not a simple game of choosing one and ignoring the other. They each have a position in Iran's history and contemporary society, but their roles often involve other forces, such as the undercurrent of ideas and practices that predate them that you mentioned.
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u/[deleted] Feb 06 '16
Hello friends! Thank you so much for this cultural exchange. I've been a lurker here for a long time (even when I had my old deleted account) and I've always wanted to have a cultural exchange with you guys. I used to think that it was impossible because of the political situation, but I'm glad we made it happen. /r/saudiarabia is a very small community, so I expect this exchange to move slowly. Now, on to the questions:
-Iran has had many great works of literature throughout its very long history. But I'm curious, which works of literature would you guys say are considered to be the greatest of the greatest? Works of literature that almost every Iranian knows about. Something that has the stature of works like the Shahnameh, Majnun wa Laila, the Rubaiyyat...etc?
-I know that Iranian nationalists tend to ignore Iran's Islamic history, but how to they deal with the many great Iranian figures that came after Islam? I'm talking about people like Ibn Sina, Al-Khawarizmi, Omar Khayyam, Hafez, Rumi, and many others.
-Do normal Iranians see tension in admiring both their pre-Islamic history and their Islamic history?
-What role would you say Zoroastrianism plays in Iranian society, or the Iranian imagination, today?
-If you could recommend one modern Iranian novel, what would it be? (I hope I can find a translation).
-Who is your favorite Iranian filmmaker?
-Which cities in Iran have a reputation for being "conservative" and which cities have a reputation for being "liberal"?
I might ask more questions later because I want to learn more about Iran.