Afshin Marashi is Farzaneh Family Professor of Modern Iranian History at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of Nationalizing Iran: Culture, Power, and the State, 1870–1940 and the coeditor of Rethinking Iranian Nationalism and Modernity.
A groundbreaking book...There is little doubt that Exile and the
Nation will become foundational reading for any student of Iranian
modernity and nationalism, as it provides the most comprehensive
picture of both the history of Zoroastrian revival as a branch of
Iranian nationalism but also a complete historiographical account
that explains the turbulent political history of modern Iran.
*Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies*
[Exile and the Nation] succeeds in reconceptualizing Iranian
modernity, and Iranian nationalism especially, in light of the
Parsi-Iranian encounter. Through the stories of the book’s five
protagonists, Exile and the Nation shows how Parsis played pivotal
roles in the development of the ideologies that defined
twentieth-century Iran. At the same time, Marashi’s book expertly
weaves together disparate subfields within Iranian studies—namely,
classical Zoroastrianism, colonialism, and Sufism—that are rarely
in conversation. As such, scholars in the field will doubtlessly
find Exile and the Nation enlightening and instructive.
*Iranian Studies*
The perspective in [Exile and the Nation] is truly transnational,
and its approach offers methodological as well as substantive
inspiration for future studies…an intellectually provocative and
engaging read.
*TRAFO—Blog for Transregional Research*
[A] well-written, clearly argued study...Exile and the Nation is
transnational history at its best; it demonstrates how those who
helped revived the ancient ties between Iran and India, and then
molded them to fit modern nationalism, were inspired by ideas that
ostensibly came from the East but were leavened with German as much
as British romantic elements. It is especially good at showing the
insurmountable dilemma they faced: how to jump across centuries to
Iran’s pre-Islamic, Zoroastrian past for inspiration, without
disregarding let alone eliminating the country’s rich Islamic
heritage.
*Middle East Journal*
[Marashi's] engaging biographies of two Zoroastrians (one Parsi,
one Iranian), two poets (one an Iranian translator of Zoroastrian
texts, one a Bengali Nobel laureate), and an Iranian journalist
with pro-Nazi sympathies contextualize the development of Iranian
nationalism between the Constitutional Revolution and the 1930s,
highlighting the significance of Parsi Zoroastrians to the related
restoration of 'Iranian authenticity.'
*Journal of Asian Studies*
An exciting new book...Exile and the Nation is a richly textured
study of some of the main threads that make up Iranian national
culture. It makes a number of important interventions…[Marashi's]
book should be in the hands of every Iranian interested in the
history of ideas and the trajectories of Iranian national
identities.
*Peyk Magazine*
In showing how new scholarly methods, mass audience books, and an
alternative national identity were imported from Bombay, then
adapted to Iran’s contrasting sociopolitical context in unforeseen
ways, Exile and the Nation is as important a contribution to
colonial Indian history as it is to understanding the origins of
the modern Middle East.
*Los Angeles Review of Books*
[Exile and the Nation] is an extremely well-researched and
well-written work that addresses a topic that has yet to be
adequately addressed…There is also a welcomed element of
storytelling to the book not often found in scholarly, historical
works...it is in both the richness of the biographical details
Marashi provides and his versatile and nuanced account of the
intellectual and political developments, that the depth of
Marashi's research and writing skills most shine...this book is
highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of modern
Iran, a better understanding of nationalism in a phenomenological
sense, or a well-grounded, historically based story related in a
highly entertaining and informative way.
*Mashriq & Mahjar*
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