IRANIAN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Year:2003 | Volume:1 | Issue:3|Papers Count:17

After pointing out the importance and the essentiality of studying music in anthropological researches, some characteristics and features of Turkmen music is highlighted and in the succeeding sections a brief explanation about lāle and hudi vocal music, āytarek-gontarek and sārija qāvin vocal plays, various kinds of music therapy in Turkmen society such as porxāni, zekr and playing pipe and dotar by sick persons suffering certain diseases like measles. Music amid Turkmen, in addition to general characteristics that can be found in other societies and ethnic groups, has certain distinctive features, which can be related with a civilization of great antiquity, the sort of feelings and emotions people acquire through being brought up in this particular culture, geographical quality of their habitation, the surrounding nature, historical events, social factors, unfavorable and favorable memories.Generally in the Turkmen culture music has an eminent standing and shows a significant and meaningful existence, directly and indirectly, in different ceremonies and in diverse forms of instrumental, vocal and vocal-instrumental.In this research comparative method and fieldwork have been employed, note-taking from texts and books together with direct, regular observation, participatory observation and interviews were also put into practice. For this purpose various parties and receptions, in which music in its different forms was essential, was contributed to and people informed and involved in these receptions were interviewed.

The aim of this article is to describe the historical and political context in which the Iranian medical system is organized during the twentieth century, in particular under the reign of the Qadjar and Pahlavi dynasties. The principal measure deployed in public health, i.e. reorganization of the medical field in Iran, seems to have taken part to consolidate the capacity of the national political authorities and sought to reduce the foreign influence in this field. Vaccination is studied more particularly because it reveals the local scientific, economic and political stakes, the fact that an socio-anthropological approach could to be unaware of. This modern preventive practice, connected to Pasteur Institute established in Teheran in 1921, symbolizes the introduction of the dominating model of biomedicine in Iran, as much as progressive auto immunization is made up on the basis of a local production of vaccines. Lastly, the deployment of vaccination seems to be carried out within the framework of a powerful State, which is not without consequence on acceptability and social representations of this technique, as we could show it in our work of thesis carried out on a field research under the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This article would initially explain the concepts and theoretical definitions of sexual identity, the role of culture in the formation of this identity and the representation of sexual identity in culture through the ideas of two most prominent theorists of this concept; Sandra Barn and Michael Kimmel. It would emphasis on this fact that sexual identity cannot be studied in the domain of biology but rather its formation and reformation ought to be scrutinized in various domains of social science and culture. Sexual identity manifested in the culture of every society is the origin of many social inequalities between sexes. Therefore, studying the manifestation of sexual identity in a culture is important for recognizing the origins, and for linguistic and cultural creation based on sexual equality. The second part of the article provides examples that reflect sexual identity and the characteristics of Iranian women identity in Iranian literature as an important part of the culture.

This article deals with a tradition in Lorestan province, related to incident in a fight when it leads to physical disability or homicide. In this case, both sides agree to repudiate confrontation and brawl by exchanging money or goods or girls. This tradition and practice is called xi sol (blood peace) or xun bas (renouncing gore). The article starts with a brief look at the geography of the region, different residing clans and the ethnic combination, through which the historical and geographical boundary of xi sol is defined. Subsequently the overall form and causes of local confrontations and disputes in the tribal context is scrutinized. The assumption presented in this article is that the codes and the way in which xi sol is carried out can be explained through headmen mediatorship. After explaining the expressions, proverbs, the goods and money exchanged in this traditional practice, the focal point of this article, is the exchange of young women and the terms and conditions of their marriage.

This paper begins with elaboration of the problem of culture and scientific development in Iranian higher education system. An attempt has been made to pose and examine the question that why are the proportion of Iranian scientific production and technological innovations low? And what factors are responsible for the problem? It has been argued that academic culture is one of the utmost factors, though there many other social, political and economical dimensions that should be considered. The third section is devoted to a comparative analysis of British and Iranian academic cultures focusing on the culture of learning and education. Two patterns of academic culture including individualistic and communitarian cultures are differentiated and examined. The last section contains some suggestions about cultural strategies that can be adopted for establishing a productive and effective academic culture suitable for flourishing scientific activities.

One of the principle phenomena in the existence of a society is the personality systems of individuals and social groups, the kind, size, specification and quality of which would have eminent impact on social processes and can act as one of the factors or impediments of socio-human development. In this research some of the personality systems issues related to part of an Iranian social context (employees, labourers and retailers as the social strata in Tehran's 10th municipality district) are investigated. Hence their personality orientations are identified and described and subsequently explanation on the influential factors is presented.Survey method, in both its deep and surface forms, by employing questionnaires accompanied by interviews (based on structured questionnaires) was used for collecting the required data. Through explanation and analyzing the collected data and ultimately by making alterations in the theoretical base of the research the following results were acquired.The social groups and strata under study were from the major strata of the inferior class in Tehran's urban society. In terms of the kind of personality system and considering the value, normative, political and economic aspects, they project and convey an infertile (autocratic, particularistic) personality and at the same time there is no meaningful differences in the people under studying terms their kind of personality system.Despite some structural-functional changes in the socio-economic system of the urban society in Tehran in the recent decades, the social groups and strata under study (employees, labourers and retailers) as the inferior urban class are still under the influence of tyrannical class system of stratification and affected by the historical autocratic personality system. As a result this infertile, particularistic personality system is reproduced amid these social strata and groups and likewise the autocratic mentality is sustained, which in turn would impede the process of socio-human development in the urban society and appear as the major factors in rigidity and passivity of the society in its way towards an essential collective identity; civil Iranian identity.

There are certain capabilities in Geographic Information System (GIS) that rarely can be seen in other computer techniques. The significant characteristics of GIS are speed, accuracy and exactness in designing and planning. Most governmental offices and organizations, insurance companies, health and transportation centers, medical and engineering centers use this technique to plan and improve their systems. GIS is also employed by archaeologists for various purposes: three dimensional images of an area, combining geophysical data with other related data and finally shapes and coverage of the land for computerized simulation. The archaeological GIS would become more significant and functional in future. This article provides useful information about GIS and its application in archaeology.

In the region of Lorestan the tribes have had a significant role in the socio-political history of Iran. However, among them the Zand clan had been the most unidentified until the late Safavid dynasty. This clan is one of the clans of the bigger Lak and Shab clan and a branch of Lor tribes, living in the western parts of Iran in the suburbs of Mahlyer in Kamazan and Parri villages. Following ten years of turmoil and violent disorder Karim Khan brought back peace and security to the region and safeguarded people from plundering and attacks of tribes, their recalcitrant chiefs and the pressure imposed by unbearable taxation.Despite all the potencies and strong points in the reign of Karim Khan; peace and public welfare in parts of the country, safeguarding the nation of terror and horror caused by wars and conflicts, in addition to putting an end mass murder and deconstruction by those pretenders of sovereign power and tribe chiefs, attention was inevitably distracted from geographical unity and ethnical integration and unification among Iranians, as it was put into effect at the time of Safavid and Afshari dynasty.The present article would see to the legitimacy of sovereignty through a comparison between the Safavids and the Zandis, and the relation of this subject matter with the territorial totality and national coherence.