Identity
(I wanted to post this article respond to this article. But since I have not reached to any appropriate conclusion and also I am really busy due to my dissertation and I did not have enough time to work on it. Hence i did not post it. Actually i can't find a good topic to write about now so I decided to post this article. I think it is a messy article but I just want to know your feedback.)
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What is the meaning? Identity means "who a person is, or the qualities of a person or group which make them different from others [Cambridge Advanced Learner]"
So what do we understand from this definition? It says that a group of people could have a ((general)) identity, but then again within a group with a ((general)) identity, each person could have a unique or ((personal)) identity.
Lets talk about the general identity! Is it possible that all the members of this group were born with the same identity? Of course not. Neural Network, learning method, ... affect the identity thus this is not general identity. According to this item it is proved that it is not possible that two people are totally similar to each other. So how can we define the general identity?
What is our (general) identity? We are Persians, this is the word which has been written in our passports, as our identity. Who are Persians?
Persian is a member of the Indo-European family of languages, and within that family, it belongs to the Indo-Iranian (Aryan branch, within which, the Iranian sub-branch consists of the following chronological linguistic path: Old Persian (Avestan and Achaemenids Persian) ==> Middle Persian (Pahlavi, Parthian and Sassanids, Persian) ==> Modern Persian (Modern Persian starts approximately around 900 CE to present). The language itself has greatly developed during the centuries. Due to technological developments new words and idioms are created and entered into Persian like any other language [2].
It means that Persians are identified with their language and also, in the world, the people who are talking in Persian are separated with a border (leave this issue that our country was very larger than now).
Therefore with regard to the previous paragraphs, general identity of Persians will not change at all. Even if they don't live in Iran. But I don't agree with this idea because what would happen to the identity of the people who have been born in other countries but their mother or father are Persian? This is why I could not find one appropriate definition, which is possible to be referred.
When I was in Iran I thought that, the Persians or Iranians are the people who think about Iran, their current affairs are about Iran, want to serve their country, want to solve the problem of Iran. In my view, the language, the appearance and religion and ... do not define the identity. If some one says he/she is not interested to know about the situation of Iran, then he/she is not Persians even if he/she speaks in Persian. If one does not try to serve their country, he/she is not Persian. But I know that this statement has so many exceptions. After revolution some people could not live in Iran:
1- Bahaees are the people who had to leave Iran due to their religion. It is not fair to blame these people even they are not interested to know about Iran. Most of them now have changed their identity to American, Biritish ... If I were them I would be proud of my new identity.
2-Refugees are people who have left Iran for some reasons they want to change their identity. I am really confused about this type since some times it is not fair to blame them and some time you allow yourself to question them. I have not reached any conclusion about this issue
But now I have a new idea.
Pollution and Traffic and..... are really important issues which have lead to immigrating problem. I remember that when I was in Iran my ears used to get dirty when I went out due to the pollution. I got headache when I went to the centre of Tehran, I hated traffic since it wasted my time when I was stuck in traffic and I wanted to get rid of Tehran.
I like the UK, I get used to here. I do not have any problem. I like my university, I have so many friends form all the countries. I was introduced to so many different cultures; I was looking for this kind of experiences when I was in Iran. But I want to go back. Because I do not belong to this soil. Honestly, you never can say that here is my country. Can you attend to any election here? I can't.
Suppose you are working in an engineering company here. If you succeed to develop or solve one industrial problem would you be satisfied? I would not.
UK has a really applausive policy. They respect everyone. Here you can be in an environment which is exceptional. They encourage talent and skillful people to live and work here regardless of religion and idea (of course not 100 percent). Nor here neither Iran do need me. Here so many talented students are studding who want to have British visa in order to be allowed to work here. In Iran the government does not pay attention to intellectual and educated people. I mentioned these things to tell you that I have thought about it.
Then what should I do. Just leave my country due to its problems? I want to go back to try to work in my country. Becuase I like my soil, I will be satisfied if I can solve very simple industrial problem. I want to attend the elections or other political activities in Iran. My identity is Persian so I want to help my country. I want to serve my country as much as I can (maybe epsilon).
In conclusion I just want to mention that I know maybe my idea is totally wrong and it would be changed in the future. Maybe I cannot tolerate the policy of Iran but I will try. I want to test it. I have a very bad background due to the problem of Iran policy. But I want to try again. Maybe the knowledge, which I have got here, can help me.
Here is my brief reply to your long post:
1) In today's world, identity and nationality are different. As an adult if you migrate from Iran to Germany, you would still keep your identity, but your nationality will change to German. "Nationality" has a legal meaning now, this is more understandable in the west due to long history of immigration.
2) You feel you're an Iranian and you care about Iran because you were born and brought up in that country, you've lived there most of your life and you feel you have some kind of "connection" to everything in that country (soil, culture, etc). Would you have felt the same way if you were born in the UK from Iranian parents? Certainly not. We had an Armenian family in our neighbourhood in Tehran, the children of the family are in the US now. Even though Armenians are a minority in Iran (and Iran is not their ancestral land), the children of that family miss Iran big time.
3- If you feel you're happier to go and work in Iran, just do it. After all we all want to live happier. Give it a try, and see how it works.
4- An old proverb says "My country is where I feel at home". It could be anywhere. You feel Iran is home, some of your Iranian friends may feel Canada is home for them. I feel England is my home, it's not where I was born in, but it is the home that I have chosen for myself, because I feel happy and settled here.
You gain a lot of exciting and new experiences during student life. However, as a student you do not normally have the time and the chance to experience life as a normal resident. You don't feel going to elections in the UK because firstly there is no reason for you to do so, and secondly you don't exactly know what's going on. I had the chance to stay a few more years in Britain after my graduation. I worked like a normal brit, payed tax, got to know and work with normal people outside the student circle got involved in the community and finally settled down. It was relatively easy for me to adapt to the new life style. I remember in the beginning I was a bit anxious, I wasn't sure if I could live in this country, but after a while things just became normal.
This is my advice: If you have the chance to work in the UK for a year or so, stay and work. The experience you gain in a professional european environment is very valuable. Don't worry about having too many competitors when you look for jobs, it's a challenge like other challenges you've had so far, and you have nothing to lose. You can always go back to Iran and live there, the more experience you become, the better. Also, settling down in europe won't necessarily cut your connections with your homeland. You can always keep the connections alive, visit Iran whenever you want, and even make bridges.
(at August 4, 2004 02:58 AM)
Thanks Amir Masoud for your consideration to write your feedback .
I have one question which i cant find a suitable answer .
in which place do you think that we can be useful for our country . some one told me that you can work here and show your coutry in a appropriate way and also help your people who are working here .
some one told me it is better to work in Iran to try to solve the problem of your country
I look forward to hearing from you
Mehdi
(at August 4, 2004 12:02 PM)
Mahdi, you mentioned that you are not eligible to vote in the UK, which is true if you are not a British citizen. If you naturalise as a British citizen then you will be able to vote in local and state elections same as any other British citizen.
I agree with Amir Masoud in regards to identity. There is a very fine line between the terms used:
- Place of Birth: As the name suggests this is where you were born
- Residense: This is where you "normally" live. For example if you are working or studying in the UK, you are a "UK Resident". Obviously you could have an indefinite leave to reside in a country or a limited one.
- Nationality: In this country you will have the same rights as any other citizen. Some countries allow having more than one nationality. If you were born in Iran and then naturalised as a British citizen, then you have both Iraniran and British nationalities.
- Identity: Hmmm... This is the tricky one. It depends on how you define your identity. For example if 60% of your life is your career, then your identity will be defined by the place where you are happier in your job. Identity is a personal matter.
The other issue that I have with Identity is that why don't you say I am from "Esfahan" rather than "Iran"? What is the difference between these levels of abstraction? Another person may say I am from Middle-East. The only difference about the countries is that they are units of political management, and their managers are the guys who issue you passports and visas so that you can go and live there. Apart from that, there is special about them. For example from a cultural perspective, a Kurdish person living in Iran may be much closer to another Kurdish person living in Turkey, when compared to someone who is in Tehran.
I still don't know why we (Persians) are so picky and sensitive about identity?
(at August 4, 2004 02:44 PM)
We hear a lot about the "identity" problem these years because the rate of immigration of Iranians to other countries has increased quite a bit recently. As mentioned in previous comments, Nationality and identity are completely different terms. Nationality is what your passport says, while I believe identity is what you want yourself. See there are a lot of Americans who - after many generations - still call themselves Irish-American. For some reason they "want" to keep their Irish identity as part of themselves, even though their ancestors migrated to the new world 2 centuries ago. On the other hand, there are also a lot of Italians in Britain or Germans in South America who don't call themselves Italian or German anymore.
Identity is influenced by a lot of factors, such as the country you were brought up in, your parents, the education you received, your religion (if you are religious) etc. But at the end I guess it's you who chooses the label of your own identity.
(at August 4, 2004 03:49 PM)
Mehdi I think I know where you come from when you talk about "serving your country". But I would like to suggest you look at things from a different point of view: put yourself in the centre, and ask yourself what you expect from your life.
- Why do you want to go back? is it because you lived there for 20 years and it has become a habit you can't break? or because your parents have a good life style there? or you love somebody there? or perhaps you chose your place of Birth!?
- What is the main goal in your life? To serve your country you were born in? or to develop yourself and make a successful happy life for yourself?
- What is the best way to achieve your main goal? Go back to Iran? Stay in Europe?
- Do you want to go to Iran because as a British educated engineer you're more appreciated there? A friend of mine once told me she wants to go back because "Too shahre koorha, 1-cheshm mishe padeshah"!!!
I guess my goal is to serve myself, improve and build a happy and secure family. I will do it anywhere I enjoy, and I believe the world is open to me. I still have a lot of connections with Iran (family, friends, businesses), but those connections are supposed to help me not "stop" me in my progress. Moving around the world looking for a better life is something everybody would do.
(at August 4, 2004 04:25 PM)
Mehran: i didnt say that i cant vote because i am not allowed to. my point was: when you attend in any elections it means that you want to participate in the future of the country. when the future of UK is not important for me as much as Iran why should i attend? but i agree with Amir Masoud that "My country is where I feel at home".
Partisan! your comment was realy interesting including the controversial questions .
i cant say the main goal in my life is serving myslef or serving my country. actaully i do not have one goal. if i only consider myself i would not be satisfied. also if i just serve my country i might lose my future. i want both of them.
your friend has told you an intersting answer. but i want to take a narrower approach than her comment. i means in Iran working opportunities are available. our country (not government) needs us to work there.
you asked why i want to go back. actually, i have to go to military service since i have not done it yet. but this is not the main reason. honestly, most of the reasons that you have written are correct. i cant say no. is wrong in your point of view?
(at August 4, 2004 08:20 PM)
Dear Mehdi, in order to solve your country's problems, you need to identify them first, and then pick the one(s) that you think you might be able to tackle. It's obviously out of the scope of this blog to identify all the existing problems. We might be able to discuss how to deal with "a few" problems though.
Why would you want to "show your country" in an appropriate way? I don't get what you mean. Maybe you want to represent your country in a better way comparing to what other students have done before. Well, for your friends and coursemates you are already the representative of your country. Do you want to counter-act what some other Iranians do in Britain? or do you want to create an unreal image of Iran, and pretend it's perfect while it's not?
(at August 5, 2004 12:36 AM)
man daneshjoye bargh hastam khili dost daram ba shoma iranihaye aziz ertebat dashte basham be omid didar (rezazadeh)
(at August 5, 2004 08:40 AM)
Amir Masoud . Actually i cant give you a clear answer that why i want to show my country in an appropriate . but you should know better than me that a background of people here about iran is ambigious .For example they know persian man as a restricted man . one of my friends in my Hall who is Phd student told me most of the Iranian poeple who i know, dont laugh !!! it is farcical isnt it? More over , they think that in Iran we do not have any thing same as Afghanestan . i want to show that we respect to other religious although this is not the policy of our government . we know what is girl friend and what is boy friends wht is drinking what is dancing what is Internet (although it has been filtered by a stupid man ).
Actually i can find freinds very easily (this is my character that most of my close friend would support ) so i found so many friends here in my university. Actually in first three months i was realy disappointed since i could not understand that why should i explain these trivial things to most of the people .
i never want to create an unreal image of Iran, and pretend it's perfect
(at August 5, 2004 10:39 AM)
Relationship between a human and a country is a two-way relationship, both should benefit from it. If you work hard but don't get any reward in the country you're in, there is no point of staying there. It's totally a personal choice: You would either decide to leave for another country, or stay where you are and try to improve the conditions. It's totally up to you. It's a difficult decision and depends on very many factors.
(at August 5, 2004 11:26 AM)
There is something you can't change easily: The iranian society is highly hierarchical, with big differences amongst its social classes. There are Iranian students like you who are outgoing and friendly, but there are also Iranian students who never smile and behave strangely like Borje Zahre Mar! This is a reality. What can you do about it?
(at August 5, 2004 12:45 PM)
Mehdi, if you talk to those who are in their 30's or older (specially British people who are relatively good at history and geography), they have an acceptable and realistic image of Iran. They know where we are coming from, and where we are today. Obviously younger people were not born at that time, and all they have heard is war, nuclear weapons, etc. This problem is not specific to Iran. It applies to any other country that has gone through major changes recently.
I also want to highlight another issue (it is more of a personal opinion I could say), which can be controversial. Although Persian culture is rich, but as I see today, British culture is miles and miles ahead of us. In some aspects I may prefer the Persian/Eastern culture, but generally I am much more comfortable with British/Western culture. I can easily feel the difference whenever I go back to Iran for holiday. I am not talking about the government, the fact that women need to wear scarves or that you may get arrested without a good reason. I am talking about people, their social behaviour and culture. I just can't bear it!
My point is that not every judgement and opinion about us is drived by propaganda. Many of those are actually very true but we don't want to accept it.
One of the main reasons behind the advantages of British culture over Persian is the fact that British culture is pretty much open and dynamic and it is evolving all the time, as opposed to ours, which is pretty isolated and not based on logic.
(at August 5, 2004 10:50 PM)
Mehran pointed out a very important element: British and generally western european cultures are very cosmopolitan. They have a long history of immigration, accepting and digesting new cultures within themselves which has made them very dynamic and open.
While I wouldn't blame only the culture for forcing women to wear scarves (people are much more tolerant than the oppressive government rules) but it certainly has roots in out static culture. The current Iranian culture is fairly isolated and closed, and not cosmopolitan at all (by cosmopolitan I mean mixing with cultures from outside the borders). Unfortunately the stupid government policies in name of opposing tahajome farhangi has just made our culture more isolated and static.
(at August 5, 2004 11:19 PM)
I agree 50 percent with you . lets say why !
the King Arthur left a huge impression on me . Mehran ! if you saw this movie you would find that british people had huge wars and so many conflicts to reach to this situation . in my point of view , we should learn from history . i agree with you that we do not have a rich culture as well as british culture . Actualy our culture has been affected by other restricted cultures . Lets consider the photo that Nazanin has put in our photoblog with the name "Lover" . if you take a narrower approach you will find how much our culture has been affected recently .Love and so on have been forgotten in our culture . British culture have seen so many war and controversial discussions to reach freedom . More over , i cant consider wearing scarves as a part of our culture . Unfortunately , after Safavian this kind of stupid rules penetrated to our culture .
But, I am realy optimistic about the future of Iran . if we consider the history we will find that it is so soon to reach a significant culture as we want . we are in passage level
(at August 6, 2004 12:18 AM)
I guess Mehran was trying to explain why some people have a negative perception of Iran and the Iranian culture. Otherwise I am also hopeful about the future.
Moreover, remember that the "LOvers" photo is actually from the Safavid period (that style of painting).
(at August 6, 2004 12:40 AM)
I don't think the King Arthur legend has much to do with Britain's culture today. That story (if true in the first place) has happened 1500 years ago or so. If you want to know why Britain is where she is now, you need to consider more recent history especially after Renaissance in Europe.
(at August 6, 2004 01:00 AM)
King Arthur is just one recent example that i reffered to . my point of view was war and conflicts for reaching freedom and misunderstanding about religiuos.Ofcourse considering Renaisaance is important .
Regarding to some thing that i have read that after Safavian those kind of restricted rules penetrated in our culture . i got your point partisan . Actually, my information about history of painting is really limitted i dont have enough information and background on this area i think one who knows better can describe these two in contradiction issues .
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