Reclaiming the Faravahar

Reclaiming the Faravahar is an ethnographic study of the contemporary Zoroastrians in Tehran. It examines hundreds of public discursive and ritual performances to show how they play upon national, religious, and ethnic categories to frame the Zoroastrian identity within the longstanding conflict between Iranian Shi'a and Arab Sunnis, defining and defending Zoroastrians' identity and values in Shi'i dominated Iran. The book focuses on two main concerns of the community: continuity with the past, hence a claim of being the authentic Iranians; and distinction from the dominant Shi'a, thus appealing to fellow non-Zoroastrians who are disenchanted with Islamic Republic. It also provides an historical sketch of Zoroastrians' condition after the Arab incursion into the Persian territory of seventh-century Iran and some of the challenges they have faced, such as emigration, conversion, absorption, and declining numbers. The book then explores the ways in which these challenges are received, understood, and articulated by today's community, and how the community makes a conscious effort to remain not only relevant in contemporary Iran but in a global context as well. The book will mainly appeal to scholars and students of religion, ritual, history, performance theories, discursive analysis, authoritarian regimes, and subalterns. Academics with an interest in Iran and the Shi'i tradition will take particular interest in the work.