1 - Also sprach Zarathustra: Persian Longitudes

Summary

This first chapter envelopes the topic of Iran with a global history. It is framed by Richard Strauss's symphonic poem Thus Spoke Zoroaster in order to demonstrate the book's central argument that the meaning of Iran escapes cloistered notions of 'identity' and/or ideology. The chapter shows that the area that is today’s Iran has been at the heart of civilisational and religious history since the beginning of time, alongue durée that does not make the task of understanding Iran any easier. Iran has produced and is a product of the world; few topics have zigzagged throughout global history with such a pronounced trajectory. Therefore, to understand Iran always also means to understand the past and present of global history. With close reference to philosophical concepts taken from the Avicennian tradition, this chapter sets the scene for the rest of the book, which attempts to place Iran out of our commonly known definitions of the country, its history, politics and international relations.