Through Tinted Lenses: Iranian and Western Perceptions and Reconstructions of the Other

Abstract

Alook at Iranian relationships with Western societies, especially in the past three decades, shows the dissatisfaction of Iranians with the Western “Other,” as was manifested in the anti-Western slogans of the Islamic Revolution in 1978–1979 and has continued to the present day. A great part of this negative attitude is undoubtedly the result of political conflicts; but, of course, it seems to be also rooted in what can be termed “cultural conflict.” While in recent centuries, Iranians have become aware of having fallen behind Western societies with regard to sciences and technological advancements, and therefore they look upon those that have made great progress in these areas with a combination of admiration and envy. Although Iranians have tried to emulate them in these respects in terms of acquiring modern scientific knowledge, often they have been reluctant to accept, and even apprehensive, regarding the manifestations of Western culture, which they have viewed as threatening to their own culture and values. For this reason, their attitude toward Western societies has been ambivalent. On the one hand, they desire the gains of Western knowledge and technology; on the other hand, they reject what they see as the decadent aspects of Western civilization. On the other side, the Iranian/Islamic Other in Western perceptions seems to evoke a different kind of ambivalence. An examination of the works of professional travel writers, documentary makers, and even journalists reveals an attraction to the “otherness” of what these travelers convey as the exotic social, political, and cultural aspects of Iran under the regime of the Islamic Republic and its citizens, in a sense expressing empathy with the subject.