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Religious Minorities in the Iranian-Speaking World: Beyond the Mainstream

Khanna Usoyan

Comments

This graduate seminar examines the diverse religious minorities of the Iranian-speaking world through their belief systems, oral traditions, and contemporary transformations. Designed for MA students in Iranian Studies and taught in English, the course explores how these communities maintain their religious identities while responding to modern challenges. The course focuses on several groups, including (Neo-)Zoroastrians, Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq/Kaka'i), Yezidis, Alevis, Sufi orders, Mandaeans, as well as regional Jewish and Christian communities. Three key aspects structure our investigation: distinctive religious doctrines, the crucial role of oral traditions in preserving knowledge, and adaptive responses to globalization and social change. Students will engage with both textual sources and living traditions to develop a comprehensive understanding of these communities' historical evolution and contemporary realities. Upon completing the course, students will be able to map the religious landscape of the Iranian-speaking world, to analyze oral traditions as vehicles of cultural memory, and identify patterns of continuity and transformation within minority communities. close

Suggested reading

Bruinessen, M. van, Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society, collected articles, The Isis press, Istanbul, 2000; Hutter, M., Iranische Religionen: Zoroastrismus, Yezidentum, Baha?itum, De Gruyter, Berlin, Boston, 2019; Omarkhali, Kh. (ed.), Religious Minorities in Kurdistan: Beyond the Mainstream, Series: Studies in Ori¬ental Religions, vol. 68, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2014; So¨kefeld, M., "Religion or culture? Concepts of identity in the Alevi diaspora", in W. Kokot, K. To¨lo¨lyan and C. Alfonso (eds), Diaspora, Identity and Religion: New Directions in Theory and Research, Routledge, London, 2004, pp. 133-155; Sanasarian, E., Religious Minorities in Iran, Cambridge Middle East Studies 13, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000; Raei, Sh. (ed.), Islamic Alternatives. Non-Mainstream Religion in Persianate Societies, Göttinger Orientforschungen, III. Reihe: Iranica, Neue Folge 16, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2017. close