Marginalia on the Idea of Boundary and the Discourse on Identity in Iran
abstract
The paper focuses on the theme of Iran and the frontier through five interconnected conceptual lenses, namely the broad notions of identity and identifications, the dyad Muslim/Persian and its relation with the third key denomination of ‘Arab’, the acculturative space of language, the meaningful role of the Ahl al-bayt and the Sayyids, and, finally, the meaningful polysemic place of waṭan, whose Western translation as ‘homeland’ notoriously posits several problems. More in general, a critical treatment of the all-seasons contrast between ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’ marks the whole discussion.
Keywords: Frontier • Diaspora • Sayyids