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Anna Krasnowolska:
Each culture constructs its own self-image in opposition to other cultures. This implies a dychotomic division of all people into "us" and "them", "familiar" and "strange". Both categories are described through a number of characteristics which result in their stereotypal images. In a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society, living on the cross-roads of many cultures as the Iranian society does, interrelations with many different categories of "strangers" (foreign nations as well as home minorities), occur on various levels. Persian literature supplies vast material for investigation of the stereotypes concerning particular categories of strangers. Continuation and development of such patterns can be followed from the pre-Islamic times until today.
Stand 28. Februar 2001
Images of a Stranger in Modern Persian Literature. The Case of India
The most common example of the "us" and "them" confrontation is that of East and West, but here a less typical case will be dealt with, namely that of India, which has its long-established tradition in Iranian literature.
Stereotypal ideas on India and its inhabitants, as they appear in modern Persian literature, already have existed in Zoroastrian writings, and were continued by classical Islamic authors. India, as the East in general, plays an important role in Zoroastrian eschatology, since the awaited Saviour should arise from it ("Warhram Varchavand", examples in the "Shahname"). In classical Perian literature the Hindus appear as pious hermits, philosophers and wizards on one hand, and as masters in arts such as sculpture, painting, music, dance and all sorts of performance, on the other. But the fine arts are closely connected with Indian idolatry, and music and dance are considered a sin in Islam. Therefore, India is the homeland of art and beauty, but also of sinful pleasures. Intellectual virtues of its wise men are combined with the threat of wichcraft.
Modern Persian literature follows the old patterns, albeit in a modified form. As in many other cases, here too Hedayat's "Buf-e kur" supplies a model for further literary works. Hedayat's "Indian" characters - a female temple dancer (the main character's mother and his idealized lover) and a yogi-like, hideous old man (his supposed father and his sexual rival) represent the opposite poles of the traditional stereotype. Hedayat's vision was later developed in Shahrnoush Parsipour's "Tuba va ma'na-ye shab". Other examples of Indian stereotype are found e.g. in "Savushun" by Simin Daneshvar (Sudabe-ye Hendi) and in Sadeq Chubak's "Sang-e sabur" (a psychopatic serial murderer Seyfolqalam). Modern literature adds a new feature to the traditional image of a Hindu: in the first half of the 20th century, being a subject of the British Empire, he is believed to serve Western imperialism. Towards Iran he may act as a soldier of an occupying army (Daneshvar, "Savushun") or as a secret agent (Pezashkzad, "Amu-jan Napoleon").
Thus, the stereotype evolved, but kept its main features. In the literary image of a Hindu fascinating and repulsing elements merge together. India remains a mysterious realm, both attractive to a Moslem and dangerous to him.