What about Translation? Beyond "Persianization" as the Language Policy in Iran. Issue 6 (November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Haddadian-Moghaddam, Esmaeil; Meylaerts, Reine
• Is Part Of: Iranian studies. Volume 48:Issue 6(2015)
• Page Start: 851
• Page End: 870
• Publication Date: 2015-11
• Subjects: Iran -- Periodicals; 955
• DOI: 10.1080/00210862.2014.913437
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-0862

Abstract

Abstract : Against the background of language policy research on Iran, and drawing on insights from recent scholarship on the role of translation in language policy, this article calls into question the claim that "Persianization" of non-Persian peoples is the main element of language policy in Iran. In so doing, the article examines closely the role of translation as enacted in two legal instruments: the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Law of Parliamentary Elections. The study illustrates that although official communication between Iranian authorities and citizens is a prototypical example of monolingualism and non-translation, voluntary translation happens between Persian and non-Persian speaking individuals, acting as a viable and cost-effective bottom-up alternative for the inclusion of non-Persian speaking peoples, far more effective than an impractical, top-down language policy reform implicitly found in the "Persianization" claim.