Converting to pre-Islamic glory: historiography and national identity in the narratives of Iranian Christian converts in Denmark
A widely accepted view in the scholarship on religious conversion is that converting to a new religion involves a process of biographic reconstruction. However, conversion may also involve a reconstruction of other kinds of pasts. The article presents a study of Iranian immigrants in Denmark who, co...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Carfax Publ.
2023
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| In: |
Journal of contemporary religion
Year: 2023, Volume: 38, Issue: 2, Pages: 243-259 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Denmark
/ Iranians
/ Islam
/ Conversion (Religion)
/ Christianity
/ Adaptation
/ Cultural identity
/ Religious identity
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| IxTheo Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism BJ Islam CA Christianity KBE Northern Europe; Scandinavia KBL Near East and North Africa TK Recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
Historiography
B Nationalism B Islam B Iran B Christianity B Conversion |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | A widely accepted view in the scholarship on religious conversion is that converting to a new religion involves a process of biographic reconstruction. However, conversion may also involve a reconstruction of other kinds of pasts. The article presents a study of Iranian immigrants in Denmark who, coming from an Islamic background, converted to Christianity. For these Iranians, conversion did not only entail a reinterpretation of their individual pasts, but also a narrative construction of Iranian history in which Islam plays the role of an alien and contaminating force. For these converts, leaving Islam and embracing Christianity was not seen as the rejection of an Iranian heritage or identity but rather as a way of reconnecting with a pre-Islamic golden age that harbored the essence of authentic Iranian culture. The article explores how conversion to Christianity can be a multifaceted project involving simultaneous and closely intertwined negotiations of both individual biographic and historical-national pasts. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9419 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2023.2199578 |