Art & Culture

Pouneh Nedaei, Editor-in-Chief of Shokaran

For several years, we had been concerned about the loss of media authority in Iran. However, the outbreak of war turned the attention of the international community towards Iranian media, as those seeking the truth understood that reliable accounts of the war had to be sought from media outlets operating inside Iran.

The Shahnameh cannot be compared solely with the Iliad and the Odyssey; rather, it should be considered alongside the great epics of the world — from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in India to Goguryeo on the Korean Peninsula and the works of Virgil. None of these works can be considered identical or equal to the Shahnameh, because the Shahnameh is fundamentally different. It contains, in a remarkably comprehensive form, the various strands of national identity. Here, the concepts of “country” and “homeland” are not confined merely to a particular geographical territory. They encompass an entire framework of ideals, culture, mythology, history, intellectual thought, virtue, ethics, truthfulness, systems of governance, and ways of life. All of these elements and symbols can be found in the Shahnameh, whereas they do not appear in the Iliad and the Odyssey in the same way.

A Critical Reassessment of Kasravi and Shamlu’s Attitude Towards Iran’s Literary Heritage

The classical literary heritage of Iran cannot fairly be reduced to mysticism, fatalism, or irrationality. The Persian intellectual tradition produced poets, philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, physicians, historians and humanist thinkers whose works addressed science, ethics, politics, justice, human dignity and the nature of knowledge.

The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi is the greatest national epic of the Iranian people and one of the most important literary works in world literature. For generations, a popular belief has circulated that "Ferdowsi did not use a single Arabic word in the Shahnameh." This claim has been repeated in books, lectures, and on social media, but linguistic research has shown that it is not literally true.

From what historians have recorded, one can clearly understand the elevated position of the Persian language during the period of Arab domination over our land. The language of the Arabs never truly took root in Iran and never entered the lives of the general population. Therefore, although Iranians who had dealings with Arabs were compelled to learn Arabic and used it only to meet their daily necessities, their own language remained Persian, along with its various beautiful dialects. In the cities and villages of Iran, people spoke only Persian languages and dialects, and in their daily lives they used no other language. The greatest proof that Arabic never became established in Iran—and the reason why, shortly after the conquest by the Arab armies, Persian once again replaced Arabic in literature and administration—was that Arabic never entered Iranian households and never found a place in the everyday life of the people.

Sometimes, in the stillness of the night, in the midst of an unexplained anxiety, or within a pattern that refuses to leave us, we sense that something greater than our present life is stirring inside us. It feels as though an ancient shadow, an old wound, or an unfinished story from our family's past is still breathing within us. Many people call this ancestral karma—a poetic and mysterious expression suggesting that:
"Some of the burdens we carry are not ours alone; their roots reach back to years before we were born."
Perhaps there is truth in this.

Educational cooperation plays a significant role in strengthening social ties between Iran and Hungary. Hungarian universities have hosted Iranian students in fields such as engineering, medicine, and humanities, while Iranian academic institutions have welcomed Hungarian researchers in Persian studies and archaeology. Scholarship programs, academic conferences, and student exchange initiatives contribute to the development of interpersonal networks that transcend national boundaries. These interactions help reduce cultural stereotypes and foster long-term social understanding.

Few places on Earth have a history as deep and continuous as Susa, one of the world's oldest inhabited cities. Long before the rise of Rome, Athens, or even Babylon's greatest days, Susa stood as a thriving center of civilization in the fertile plains of southwestern Iran. For thousands of years, it served as a crossroads where cultures, empires, religions, and trade routes converged.