Iranian Studies in the United States and Constructions of Post-Revolutionary Iran: A Case Study

41 *Seyed Mohammad Marandi received his PhD in English Literature at Birmingham University. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Tehran. *Zeinab Ghasemi Tari is a PhD candidate at the University of Tehran. Correspondence Address: ghasemitari@ut.ac.ir 1 Edward Said (1978) Orientalism (New York: Pantheon Books), pp. 301-302. Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVII, No.2 Winter 2014 Iranian Studies in the United States and Constructions of Post-Revolutionary Iran: A Case Study Seyed Mohammad Marandi* Zeinab Ghasemi Tari* (I) Introduction There is of course a Middle East studies establishment, a pool of interests, “old boy” or “expert” networks linking corporate business, the foundations, the oil companies, the missions, the military, the Foreign Service, the intelligence community together with academic world. There are institutes, centers, faculties, departments, all devoted to legitimizing and maintaining the authority of a handful of basic, basically unchanging ideas about Islam, the Orient, and the Arabs.1 The depiction provided in the above quotation may seem somewhat cynical but it shows the deep concern that Edward Said and other critics of academic Orientalism felt about Middle East studies which in their view perpetuated the misrepresentations of the traditional Orientalists. With the emergence of the United States as a super power after the Second World War, Area Studies programs became increasingly significant as the need for knowing other regions of the world was felt more than ever. The United States strategic and political interests in the Middle East made Middle Eastern Studies of great political importance among other area studies 42 programs. In 1958, Middle Eastern studies started to attract a significant amount of financial aid through the National Defense Education Act, and the funding continues to present day. This importance becomes more evident when one considers the US government’s special funding donation to the Middle East studies programs.2 In his book Ivory Towers on Sand, Martin Kramer explains that despite a rather long history of Middle East Studies in the United States, such foundations and centers are still continuing to produce irrelevance due to professional deficiencies and prejudices of academicians. Regardless of whether Kramer’s criticisms of Middle Eastern studies and the reasons he provides in his book are valid or not, other reasons such as dominance of the ultra conservatives closely involved in these programs as well as the crucial economic leverage of some interests groups and think tanks are important factors in these academic endeavors. These considerations become more critical when one looks at Iranian Studies programs in the United States as a part of the area studies programs. As will be shown below, the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979 led to the construction of a discourse in the West that represented the Revolution as an Islamic fundamentalist and terrorist threat which fitted well with the existing Orientalist discourse and was reiterated and reinforced in academic circles. Other than politicians there seems to be a wide interest among the western audience in what is produced in the so called academic circles of the United States about Iran and more specifically the contemporary Iran. The desire and interest of the West in general and the US in particular in Iran has created a market of both audience and producers for materials that constantly confirms the pre-established discourse surrounding Iran. The emergence of the “native informant”3 is of great significance in this regard as they are usually considered as authentic and authoritative sources for gaining information about Iran. Often the “expertise” attributed to them cannot be easily dismissed. Iranian Studies is a very broad academic field of study which encompasses language, literature, culture, art and history, contemporary affairs and international relations and is taught in numerous universities 2 As an example one can refer to the United States Department of Education donation to the “Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships”, (FLAS) program. 3 Spivak defines “native informant” as a person positioned to speak on behalf of his/her ethic group or country, usually for the benefit of the Western investigator or audience: Spivak, G. C. (1999:6). 43 around the world. The present paper avoids an extensive survey of the field. The present...