Unveiling The Mythos of Iran

A conference at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz, California.

May 21, 2023

This conference was geared toward Iranians educated outside Iran and non-Iranian scholars of myth, religion, philosophy, and literature. We are all more or less occluded when it comes to Iran's place in the world mythological record. One main reason for the lacuna in our knowledge is that what is specifically Iranian has dissolved, or been dissolved, into "Islamic tradition." While separating out, reclaiming, and restoring Iranian mythology is implied, decolonizing was not the explicit topic of this conference. Rather, we were interested in illuminating the darkened landscape of the Iranian mythic imagination. As many Iranian women cast off their veil, I believe the task of myth scholars is to unveil the rich mythological heritage of Iran for ourselves and others.

Ten speakers presented on a topic, a motif, a figure, a story, a text, or an idea from the field of Iranian myth that they have researched, written about or taught extensively, and approached their chosen subject with their chosen hermeneutical method. This was a beginning, an opening, an invitation to Iranian and non-Iranian scholars and students to engage with the Iranian mythic tradition, be able to see it clearly, and contextualize it accurately in the greater world mythological record.

May 21, 2023.

Click here to view the conference on YouTube