About the double identity of Iranians ۱۴ اردیبهشت ۱۳۸۹
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Brilliant article., and, ironically, very true
I remember when I came to the UK all my friends told me never trust the British. You can never know what is behind their smile. I came to understand that with my personal experience. It is clear that there is a cultural difference. Now I some how know what is behind any smile. I can understand friendly gestures and racist attitudes although they are both hidden under ‘politically correct language
But that does not mean the British are schizophrenic. The same is for Iranians. Cultures have their very complex mechanisms of implying messages. You cannot judge the entire population by only two weeks of tourism.
The writer suffers from tunnel vision, and lacks organs of perception for an objective assessment.
What she calls a” lie”, can be more properly rendered to: “adaption for need of
survival” which unfortunately includes lying
her statement: “Never have I heard people telling so many lies as in Iran”, can be likened to the words of an advocate against racism saying: ” Never have I seen so many niggers as in United States.” Like the matter of blind people and The Elephant in Rumi’s Masnavi, she has felt only a part of the Elephant.!
Anyone who deals or tries to deal with Iran issue should learn one thing, which obviously the author of this article completely missed – one can not associate our meaning of the word ‘lie’ with iranian behaviour. In our culture ‘lie’ is associated with pejorative connotations whereas there it is a matter of survival. You can’t call people liers only because they try to survive.
Dear Ula,
That is exactly what I have written in my article.:
The Islamic Revolution lead to a theocracy but also to a widespread way of life that goes against Islam: lying is the absolute condition for survival.”
So it is not true that I have called them liars without mentioning what the cause of their lie is.
From my point of view there’s nothing wrong with this article. It’s the way of interpretating by some readers which causes unnecessary friction in themselves:
1. The word lying itself is being misinterpreted because of missing the social context the author does mention. Lying is a very functional and in this case even necessary way of selfprotection. It is social behaviour to survive , not te be compared with lying as evil behaviour.
2. Lying as a habit (even when selfprotection is not an issue) also cannot be typecasted as bad of evil behaviour. When you have to protect yourself by lying, a person’s behaviour starts adapting this way of communcating as a kind of standard reflex to his environment.
3. Taking things to personally or starting to protect one’s motherland is a kind of natural behaviour you can see all over the world. In stead of accepting the sad but inevitable truth people suddenly seem to be triggered by that truth because the effect might be that others see them als notorious, evil minded liars without conscience.
And off course Iranian people are a bit proud . . .
They see (the) (what) ‘lies’ beneath, but hearing someone else saying it . . .
Conclusion: Lying is a very common social behaviour, especially in countries where the truth itself is a lie and where saying so is a crime.
This looks to me like an exercise in character assasination of the national kind. I have lived in the UK for over 30 years and like one of your contributors above have experienced the British with all their sweetness and lightning effect but big back stabbers and racists once your back is turned. .But I have also come across some wonderful and truly sincere British who truly live the values they espouse but like in every society these are becoming few and far between. Iranians that she interviewed at least had the humility to admit their character inadequacies and laugh about them whereas the Brits and the Gringos do not like it when a character like Ahmedinejad tells them in clear terms that actually it is they who are walking around parading naked whilst they accuse others of doing so. They are the ones who protect and sponsor int’t law breakers such as Israel and Saddam too and then pretend that they are upholders of ‘civilised’ standards. Iranians need to learn to relax a bit and get out of the guilt complex and be their normal self. A little bit of lying after all gave a job to the writer above and got me to say my tuppence worth of commentaryg
@Mea Voce: exaxctly . To my regret, I see that some people misinterpret my text and only focus on the pejorative connotation of the word ‘lying’. I have indeed mentioned that lying is a condtion for survival in Iran. And I have said that TO MY DEEP REGRET, lying is the essence of Iranian identity today. I love Iran very much. Which is why I have written this text. Not to insult anyone. If you love someone or something, you are honest and try to tell the truth.
@Rezvan. Of course other nations also lie. I have not written that Iran is the only country where people lie. I have said that because of the nature of the regime, people are FORCED to lie so much. Do I never lie? Of course I do. But I don’t have a government which forces me to create a different ‘me’ in the public sphere.
Well, where in the whole world, lying is not an instrument of surviving? In Europe and worse in America you cannot even think about certain things, let alone lying about them. You did not publish my previous comment because you even do not dare to approach the H word question.
Please don’t boast about your honesty. The myth of ‘untrustworthy native’ is a very old, worn out racial stereotype.
Thought provoking article, Ann, thanks. Thanks for your responses to the comments too. I can sense your love of Iran, and I admire your expressing your thoughts, despite the risk of offending some of your readers. Don’t worry about it, I say. That said, I think your comment about Iranian vs. Western kids, bicycles, and lying was a bit harsh and simplistic, despite the grain of truth in there.
No doubt, as you said, the cruelty of the regime forces people to lie. Yet the cruelty is perpetrated within a cultural context, where extreme dogma and survival and ambition urges causes some to inflict harm on others who challenge their belief or the establishment that feeds them. This is not unique to Iran, obviously, but it IS a feature of Iran. I think as an Iranian I also have to admit that often times the culture encourages us to lie, in order to not ‘offend’ relatives or friends, for example, in order to preserve fragile social connections. Sometimes we take offense easily: why did so and so not return my call right away, why did they not come to my house, etc. This insecurity ‘forces’ the other party to lie the next time they talk to you. One thing that you can add to the picture IMO is the flip side of the coin: often we are too honest, too direct, by western standards. When we are comfortable with a bond, or if we don’t care about it, we tell another person exactly how we feel, exactly what they lack, etc., not couching it as a westerner might. Anyway, complicated subject, and I’m glad you wrestled with it.
Thanks, Kaveh. I’m glad you noticed my love for Iran. I did not intend to offend anyone. I intend to try to explain people what is going on in Iran. I’m very much aware that other cultures ‘lie’ as well. Thanks for your balanced comment.
You are kind, Ann. Please keep writing without fear of offending. BTW, if you get a chance to read (or have someone translate) the farsi comments posted, you will find slightly more sophisticated and honest self-examining (and amusing) commentary by some of my Iranian brothers and sisters. I suspect some of those readers have more recently lived and intellectually matured in Iran.
Thank you. I will definitely keep writing about Iran. I read some of the Persian comments, as I know some Farsi myself.
BTW, tomorrow there’s a new article of mine on this website. 
take care,
Ann
Almost all those commented on the article have blamed the Islamic regime as the main culprit. However, the fact is that the phenomenon of lying has not much to do with the established clerical autocracy. This is an integral part of Iranian culture and its roots can be traced back in the history of the nation. What we can do with such a national figure as Ferdowsi and his Shahnamah the emplotment of which draw for the most part on the acts of bravado by such a liar hero as Rustam? What is more, we Iranians have to think or even rethink about our thinkers-cum-poets and the members of dynastic bureaucracies, of their ranks the majority of Iranian litterateurs and historians have arisen. Almost all of these writers or cultural agents contributed directly and actively to the established tradition of lying. The problem here is not that the other peoples in other countries are also crafty liars. This approach is very similar to the logic behind Ahmadinejad’s tirades in his interviews and public addresses. The incontrovertible fact is that the Iranians have a written and well-documented history of lying and it is against the backdrop of this history that the lying has become a national mark of Iranians. It remains to all Iranians to deal with the pile of the evidence pertaining to their well-documented history of lying and find a way to get rid of their disastrous influence.
I think you have hit the hammer on the head of what ails this country. As long as people are unwilling to stand up and tell the truth regardless of the circumstances, it matters not who is in charge of the government. Once set of lying governance will replace another.
The point was poignantly made by Roxanna Saberi in her new book about how easily she gave in to the demands of her interrogators and “confessed” on paper that she done some spying for the US having only suffered 2 weeks in solitary confinement. She figured once she is free, she’ll simply recant those confessions and relieve herself. Only later after spending months in jail with some very brave women including 2 members of the Baha’i leaders along with other prisoners of conscious and learning that these women refused to lie even under more horrendous situation that her soul was awakened to the true nature of her imprisonment and she recanted all the “confessions” in front of the judge knowing full well that it will lead to longer incarceration.
How was it that such a large group of the leaders of the green movement so readily marched in front of the cameras and “confessed” to crimes they had not committed? What is about these women who are still being held in Evin for still telling the truth than the recognition that the ailments of the Iranian society does not go away with a change in regime. Their situation has only brought to light the long and hard learning curve for the entire Iranian society.
Dear Ann,
I am sure that the King Darius was one of the genuine liers as well. The Iranian essence has not been formed recently, it is as old as Iran.
Well said, Ann. It’s sad but true and unfortunately I don’t think this habit of lying is only caused by the Islamic regime though it certainly hasn’t helped. It’s a cultural and social issue. I put your article on my blog and linked back to it. We need more articles like this. Take Care.
Thanks a lot, and thanks for linking.
This is a great topic, i really agree with this i am from Saudi Arabia and even though Iran is quiet different than Saudi but they are using Islam to destroy every thing. Islamic regime unfortunately derstroying people and this is not because of Islam itself but the way they forcing people to behave and believe in proper way. I really like this blog and as am i interested in this topic ( the case of Iran and Saudi) i hope you continue writing in English cuz i dont speak Persian unfortunately..
Thanks have a good evenig
I dont know i saw many people here against the idea of the generalizing lieing idea on Iranian, but i guess the writer used the wrong word here and i think he meant “double standards” . this what i see in Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia too, people forced indirectly to lie and be someone else just becuase of fear from gov., relegious police in case of SA or even as protecting thier reputation and image infront of other people. Ofcourse, this is found in many cultural even westeren countries but it is more likely occures in this kind of socities.
Salaam