Mirza Abdul'Rahim Talibov: The issue Self and the Other and cultural and social development of Iran

The “self” and the “other” are socially constructed concepts, and the cultural and historical backgrounds of different nations and the ideologies govern societies, change the nature of these two concepts, their definition, and th relationship type are influential. Iran's confrontation with Western civilization in the Qajar era- the most important cultural phenomenon in Iranian history after its confrontation with Islam, confronted Iranian’s “self” against the European “Other” and the pervasive impact of this confrontation led to widespread changes in the nature of Iranian culture and society, caused the identity of Iranian society unprecedented changes. Talibov, one of the pioneers of modernism in Iran in constitutional era, stablished the basis of revision toward “self” and “other”. Focusing on Talibov's written works, this paper addresses two questions in a descriptive-analytic way: 1- How were “self” and “other” reflected in Talibov's written mirrors, and 2- What was Talibov's role in the social-cultural development in the disturbed society of his era? The research hypothesis is as follow: The lived experience in cultural sphere reinforces the audacity of “self” in accepting the “other”, preserving the identity also guarantees the culture survival and social beliefs. The results show Talibov by emphasis on protecting the Iranian identity, had a transformative role in Iranian cultural and social spheres by depicting "self-Iranian society" and portraying "other-western" superiority in his works, despite trying to shake the traditional Qajar discourse and the dominating power of Western discourse.