The Evolution of “Personal Self” and Its Place in Modern Historiography of Iran (Based on Qajar Era Memoirs)

Abstract

Taking distance from the history and questioning it, in other words, subject to subject knowledge, can be considered as the prominent feature of modern historians and find the source of this transformation in awareness of individuality and knowledge of the place of historicity of human beings. For the first time, in the Naseri era, a glimpse of this intellectual development transferred to Iran, following the translation movement, and acquainted the people with the philosophical and scientific works of scientists and philosophers of Europe. Development in thoughts and mental power among the Iranian elite and awareness of individuality, created the context of critical flow against the old traditional beliefs as well as criticism in the field of humanism, history and historiography. In this article, the evolution and position of “personal self” in modern historiography of Iran is studied using the descriptive-analytic method, and relying on memories of the Qajar era. Research on this issue by referring to 42 memories during the periods both before and after the constitutional revelation, shows the direct impact of “personal self” in the formation of Iranian modern history in the guise of memoires; also can be traced by expression of individuality in the collective consciousness and awareness of the place of historicity of human kind, with the happening of constitutional revolution and the need to register it.

Keywords

• personal sself
• subject
• memoires
• modern historiography
• qajar era