Discourse of National Identity in Kasravi’s Historiography

Historiography of Kasravi is an offshoot of modernism of the post-Constitutional Revolution era, particularly during the Reza Shah’s era, historiography may be classified into two periods: the first period is based on a scientific approach; while the second one is based on ideological, political approach. In the second period, Kasravi tries to analyze the developments of the Iranian society on the basis of an ideology, that is, national solidarity, and tries to shed some light on the failures of the past, particularly the Constitutional Revolution. He maintains that the reason for backwardness of the Iranian nation is discord among the masses, which is itself a result of the vagueness and uselessness of their ideas and beliefs. As a remedy to the problems, he recommends unity around “ne religion, one banner and ne language,” considering them the main elements of national solidarity.
Discourse of National Identity in Kasravi’s Historiography