Transformation of Iranian Social Customs during the Qajar Period (A Case Study of the New Style of Handshake)

The arrival of modernity and the new European culture in Iranian society had an impact on political, social and cultural structures and caused these structures to undergo certain changes. A large part of these changes affected the social and cultural sphere, especially the lifestyle and etiquette of Iranian society. One of the customs that went through change was the greeting, especially the tradition of shaking hands. This article aims to investigate the arrival, acceptance and significance of the new handshake as a sign of the modern and Western (so-called Farangi) style of greeting and human interaction using the descriptive-analytical method. The results show that following cultural interactions with Europeans and the spread of Western culture and customs, the Western-style handshake became popular in Iran from the Naserid period onward and the nature of the manner of handshake and its conceptual and semantic implications changed significantly. In this new way, the handshake became a common practice and it transformed from an etiquette reserved for special occasions and individuals into a wide-ranging social practice.