Historical Self-Awareness and Identity Formation in the Context of Iranological Narratives (Qajar and Pahlavi Era)

Today, national identity and its relationship with sub-national and transnational identities has become a problem for many societies and the nations, so that it is generally referred to as a crisis. With Iran's entry into the modern era, identity has become a problematic issue. One of the important factors that have had a significant impact on the identity formation of Iranians is the discourse of Orientalism. Oriental studies are the main source of producing ideas and concepts about the nature of oriental societies, including Iran, and are more or less used to identify and analyze these societies. Orientalism and its technical tools such as linguistics and archaeology, brought out some forgotten dimensions of pre-Islamic Iranian civilization and culture from the dust of time and history and presented its achievements in the form of historical narratives. This article, with the method of historical analysis, seeks to answer the question, what has been the function of Iranian studies discourse in historical self-awareness and modern Iranian identity construction? The findings of the research indicate that in the modern era, the modern identity of many ancient Iranian buildings was redefined by Orientalism. Relying on Greco-Roman, Persian-Arabic works and sources, archeological excavations and reinterpretation of ancient lines, the grand historical narratives flourished in the context of this discourse and became a basis for the historical self-awareness and identity formation of Iranians.