Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Identities neither die nor assimilate fully. They remain latent and rematerialize under the apt condition. This paper discusses how cultural iconic practices can act as an identity narratives indicator. Although the analysis is focused on the country of Iran, but the model applies to most nations with diverse ethnicity and identity. The argument is; Iran encompasses two distinct identities: the Persianists and the Islamists. The two identities have coexisted and clashed over the centuries. Historical analysis reveals that the two identities have fostered divergent political regimes, politics, policies and practices. The deviation in due course has led to conflict within Iran and beyond. How the two identities have continued to co-exist in Iran over the centuries? This paper demonstrates that Identities are revived and reproduced through explicit cultural practices (Iconic practices) during different regimes. To preserve or to reinstate an identity, leaders endorse and promote the apt and significant iconic practices within the societies. To suppress an identity on the other hand, the practices are simply either downcast or contained.