A Genealogical Study of the Relationship Between “Literature” and “Education” in Iranian Modernity

The purpose of the present paper is to study the specific historical conditions in which a new relationship between “literary texts” and “public education” was established. This created a different formulation of “literature”. To that end, the genealogical method was used. From a genealogical point of view, phenomena have no meta-historical nature and are constructed following historical events and within complex power relations. The findings show that “poetry” and “education” in the mid-centuries discourse had a specific definition, function and formulation and that they established a relationship with each other in connection with the mechanism of the collector power and the construction of the hierarchy of society. The confrontation of Qajar rule and Iranian society with numerous crises such as war, cholera, and famine challenged the collector power. With the activation of new mechanisms of power (disciplinary and bio-power) and the formation of the assumption of equality, the hierarchical structure of the society was gradually weakened and the issue of public education as a way to save the state and the nation became problematic. The discourse of literary criticism turned the “Iranian people’s manners” and “literary texts” into issues and established a new relationship between the two. Meanwhile, a collection of texts and various social situations came under the umbrella of “literature”. In sum, the results indicate that the change of power mechanisms in the Qajar period marked a fundamental shift in the historical existence of Iranians and a new state of affairs was established; “Literature” and “education” bore new definitions, functions, and connections, and they established a new relationship with each other.