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This study provides new insights into the historical language contact between Classical Armenian and West Middle Iranian, specifically Parthian. Next to an up-to-date account of known lexical, morphological, and phraseological Iranian loans in Armenian, the discussion focuses on one major and three minor syntactic patterns which, it is argued, are the result of pattern replication. The major pattern, the Classical Armenian periphrastic perfect, has previously been the focus of numerous papers owing to its unusual construction: while intransitive verbs construe with nominative subjects and an optional form of the copula in subject agreement, transitive verbs exhibit genitive agents, accusative objects and an optional copula in a invariable 3.sg form. Based on a discussion of morphosyntactic alignment patterns in general, and of Armenian and West Middle Iranian in particular, it is shown that previous accounts cannot satisfactorily explain the syntax of the perfect. In a new approach, it is argued that Armenian exhibits tripartite morphosyntactic alignment as the result of 'copying' and adapting the ergative alignment pattern of the West Middle Iranian past tense. This analysis is supported both by the historical morphology of the perfect participle and by a corpus analysis of five major works of Armenian 5^th-century historiography. The minor patterns - ezāfe-like nominal relative clauses, subject resumption and switch-reference marking using the anaphoric pronoun Arm. ink'n, and the quotative use of Arm. (e)t'ē - are equally linked to parallel constructions in West Middle Iranian, which may have served as syntactic models for their Armenian counterparts. The final part of the study discusses the Armenian-Iranian relationship from a language contact point of view and, making use of historical, epigraphic, and literary sources, proposes that a superstrate shift of the Parthian-speaking ruling class of Armenia to Armenian as their primary language best explains the amount of Parthian linguistic material and patterns in Armenian.

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This multi-disciplinary research project explores the religious and cultural foundations within the “master commemorative narratives” that frame Israeli and Iranian political discourse. In articulating their grievances against one another, Israeli and Iranian leaders express the tensions between religion, nationalism, and modernity in their own societies. The theoretical and methodological approach of this dissertation is constructivist-interpretivist. The concept of “master commemorative narratives” is adapted from Yael Zerubavel’s study of ritualized remembrance in Israeli political culture, and applied to both Israeli and Iranian foreign policy. Israel’s master commemorative narrative draws heavily upon the language of the Hebrew Bible, situating foreign policy discourse within a paradigm of covenantal patrimony, exile, and return, despite the unrelenting hostility of eternal enemies and “the nations.” Iran’s master commemorative narrative expresses Iranian suspicion of foreign encroachment and interference, and of the internal corruption that they engender, sacralizing resistance to the forces of evil in the figurative language and myths of pre-Islamic tradition and of Shi‘a Islam. Using a constructivist-interpretive methodological approach, this research offers a unique interpretive analysis of the parallels between these narratives, where they intersect, and where they come into conflict. It highlights both the broad appeal and the diverse challenges to the components of these “master” narratives within Israeli and Iranian politics and society. The conclusion of this study explains the ways in which the recognition of religious and cultural conflicts through the optic of master commemorative narratives can complement the perspectives of other theoretical approaches and challenge the conventions of Security Studies. It also suggests some of the potential practical applications of this research in devising more effective international diplomacy.

Thesis advisor: Natana DeLong-Bas / Throughout history, the idea of “hidden wisdom” and “primordial truth” has been a perennial fixture of innovative or heterodox beliefs. Repeatedly, novel methods of thought, be they religious, political, or social, have been introduced as a product of a vaunted time and space: lost secrets of the Persian magi, rediscovered wisdom of Solomon, uncovered Egyptian mysteries, etc. This persistent trope begs examination, and highlights one of the oldest trends in human thought: to find legitimacy in tradition, imagined or otherwise. Furthermore, the literature seems to always point towards a land in the greater Middle East as the font of wisdom - even in the writings of people from the Middle East, who simply attribute works to peoples and lands different from their own. Finally, in more modern times, there is a tendency to lean upon the narrative of a lost past for purposes of cultivating a new national identity, especially by peoples grappling with the overbearing mantle of Arabness or the struggles of a stateless people. Overall, the lost golden ages of the Middle East serve as the ideal wellspring of legitimacy for unorthodox ideas regarding the divine, the state, and the nature of a people. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Middle Eastern Studies.

This study is inspired by two phenomena: first, the interest among certain translation studies scholars in sociological theories to account for the social implications of translation and translational activities; and secondly, the transformation of Iranian society along with its systematic and systemic integration into the globalized society. It attempts to analyze the role of translation –products and processes– in how modernity and Islam have been introduced to Iranian society of the 19th century and that of the 1990s, respectively. Theoretical frameworks to define translation, describe society, and study the socio-political impact of translation are derived from Niklas Luhmann’s theories of communication, society and politics. His theory of communication is used to define translation as a communication medium that makes communication across linguistic, semiotic and historical borders more probable. As a medium, translation can lend itself to two distinct levels of understandings. While the first focuses on actual translation products at textual level, i.e. inter-lingual translation products, the second addresses translation processes at macro-level, which enable professional role players in a social system such as the system of religion to draw communicatively the attention of other systems such as the system of politics. His theory of society serves to describe the semantics and structure of Iranian society during the 19th century. In the latter period Iran is caught in the avalanche of modern world politics and economy. It begins to use translation, among others, as an efficient mean to learn and derive information about the modern Europe. The new information raises communicative complexity in the society, the efficient handling of which gives birth to modern structures. Luhmann’s political theory is used to analyze Iran’s post-revolutionary political system and its interaction with the system of religion. Iranian theocracy is considered undemocratic less due to the unification of religion and politics than due to its faulty differentiation into the subsystems of administration, politics and public. The way the system understands Islam is crucial in shaping political institutions and organizations as well as in evolving political structures (defining which politically relevant issues are taken into consideration as themes for decision making). The socio-political relevance of translation processes is then demonstrated based on how religious intellectuals take the task of ‘translation proviso’ seriously by translating modern political thinking into a religious communication, and in so doing, draw the attention of theocracy. Four translations of the Quranic verse 4:34 as well as an analysis of religiously informed political theories formulated in the intellectual journal of Kiyān will serve to demonstrate how religious intellectuals’ reformist re-translation of Islam produces new communicative themes in the public opinion and hence draws the attention of theocracy. The findings, of interest for translation studies, sociology of religion, political science and Iranian studies, show that translations, by disseminating information and raising complexity in society, are basic social operations with consequences for different spheres of society.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper it to examine Electronic commerce (e-commerce) practices of Iranian business organizations, as a “traditional” business culture, as it compares to a “developed” business culture such as the one existing in business organizations in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – Executives from a sample of 50 business organizations in Iran were interviewed and asked to complete the research questions pertaining to e-commerce practices in their organizations. A factor analysis procedures with varimax rotations is used to analyze the data collected from these organizations. Findings – Comparing the result of this study with an earlier study on a sample of business organization in the USA shows more similarities than differences. Based on the results of the study, it appears that e-commerce practices and related technology present similar opportunities and challenges to organizations regardless of their business culture. Lack of appropriate technological hardware and software, however, is identified as a hindering factor preventing Iranian business organizations from reaching their e-commerce potentials. Originality/value – This research provides a rare insight into the Iranian business culture. The collection of data through personal interviews and the empirical nature of the study represent a unique opportunity to validate findings from other business cultures. This allows for a better practical understanding of the opportunities and constraints associated with e-commerce adoption.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(文学) / 甲第18000号 / 文博第637号 / 新制||文||599(附属図書館) / 30858 / 京都大学大学院文学研究科行動文化学専攻 / (主査)教授 吉田 和彦, 教授 田窪 行則, 教授 吉田 豊 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Letters / Kyoto University / DFAM

The idea of the present thesis initiated with a seemingly innocent and simple question: How has the relationship between secular Iranian writers and the country's religious tradition developed following the 1979 Iranian Revolution and establishment of the Islamic Republic? This thesis is being crafted at two main levels: the first part aims to discuss the dynamics of the literature field, mostly regarding religion and tradition in the post-revolution era, while the second part aims to look more closely into the works and discourse of Hushang Golshiri (1938-2000). Therefore, this thesis places itself within the study of Iranian literature in its alternative modernization/secularization. The thesis argues that after the revolution of 1979 in Iran, discourse of literary modernity developed in a way to provide a more active involvement with religion and tradition by a group of so-called "secular writers". This involvement has led to a kind of a "reconstruction" of the relationship between modern Iranian literature and religion, in pluralistic, novel, and seemingly secular ways. / 博士(グローバル社会研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in Global Society Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

Due to the recent war in Iraq, the Middle East has once against jumped to the forefront of everyone's mind. The world has been focused on Iraq and Iran for a decade now because Iran has established a strong foothold in Iraqi life since the toppling of Saddam Hussein. However, in order to understand this issue and attempt to solve it, an extensive study must be made of all the reasons that Iran is succeeding where the United States has not. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the historical influence that Iran, particularly the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has had on Iraq since its creation. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has taken over its home country and a historical analysis will chronicle its rise. Case studies of Iran and Iraq will be used to understand the geopolitical, military, economic, and religious reasons for the IRGC's ever-increasing influence. Previous studies and news coverage have only focused on one issue at a time; however, it is rare to find a study which combines all the reasons. This thesis will not only compile an analysis of these reasons, but will also explore and suggest what steps or policies Iraq can adopt in order to prevent it from being a puppet to other world powers.