Posted: 12/5/2007 5:42:42 PM EDT
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Why do some people refer to people from Iran(?) as Persians? Naming dispute |
that about sums it up for the people I know who call themselves Persians. |
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Iran is a modern state with little history and it has a bunch of theocratic assholes running the joint. Persia is an ancient culture with many accomplishments, that once controlled a far flung empire. Additionally, a lot of Iranians moved to the US after the fall of the Shah. When the Hostage Crisis was going on, there was a lot of hatred for any Iranians. Calling yourself Persian was a good way to deflect any trouble, without lying. Care to guess why most call themselves Persians? |
So what I'm getting is people referring to themselves as Persian do it because they're ashamed to associate themselves with their own country of Iran? Is this anything like people attaching their "ethnic origins" in front of -American? Latin-American? African-American? Native-American? 
Should I add a BOTD warning to this discussion now? It's like, how much more hot could they be? and the answer is none. None more hot. 
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Here's a nice Rick Roll free example.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wYPA02mheI |
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"Persian" is, as said, an ethnonym for the Parsi/Farsi-speaking peoples of Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Iranians are those from the modern country of Iran. And if I were one of them, I'd rather refer to myself as Persian than associate myself with those loony bastards the Ayatollahs and Ahmadinejad. I find Persians in America, in general, to be very friendly, often times rather conservative, and they make some of the best damn food out there. |
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Many Persians do not support the Ayatollah or the mullahs. Muslim clerics are hated in Iran, they cannot even get a ride in taxis without putting on disguises. Islam was not the religion of the state until 1978, many are still resisting. It's not uncommon to find Persians who do not know ANYTHING about Islam. The Islamic Revolution was welcomed because it granted Persians Independence from Western Oil companies who were exploiting Iran, but the Ayatollah and his policies have severely fucked up Iran's economy. ETA: Also Iranians are not Arabs. They are Persians. |
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The name Persian comes from the area (a province in modern Iran) called Pars or Fars. As the P and F can often be used interchangable in various languages, they are essentially the same word. The people whose culture originated from Pars were called Parsi, or Persians by us Europeans. The language can be called Parsi, but is most often refered to as Farsi or just Persian. Iran is synonomous with Arian, which Persians identify with. As mentioned, the term Persian can e used to describe anybody who is culturally and linguistically Persian, and not strictly those from Iran. Afghanis and Tajikis are Persians too, among others. Iranians in their own Farsi language called themselves Irani, and Afghanis Afghani, etc. Persian, Pars, or Fars are really only used to describe the language or the literal province of Fars or the Persian Gulf by Persians today. Also, to confuse things a bit there are a group called Parsi in the modern context that are descendents of Iranians that left Iran for India in ancient times and maintained their Zoroastrian religion, never converting to Islam. Among them are Freddy Mercury of Queen (real name Farokh Bulsara or something of the like IIRC). I think I rambled a bit here, so I hope this makes sense. |
This is correct in my experience as well. |