The 'sun' shining upon the 'ever-lasting' country: A diachronic analysis of Iranian national anthems during the 20th century

Abstract

Iran has undergone a metamorphosis in its ideological and national identity due to its historical upheavals in the past century e.g. the Persian Constitutional Revolution (1906-1911), Islamic Revolution (1979), Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). This paper aims to present the diachronic changes in the Iranian official national anthems' lyrics. It demonstrates how the socio-political changes influenced these anthems and how such transformations have shaped the ideological identities of Iranians' pre and post Islamic revolution to outsiders via lyrics and through a critical discourse study. I also show how these identities are constructed through texts and via intertextual means. The results display that the changes in Iranian anthems not only demonstrate a socio-historical transformation, but also a kind of acceleration in terms of political developments in contemporary Iran, and the ways in which the leaders may have employed their own ideological views to project Iranian identities. © 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.