Ma`rifat Siyasi

The periods of intellectual-political trends in the first decade of Iran’s Revolution can be divided into two: the period of active trends during the first three years after the victory of the Revolution which represent the same campaigning trends that existed before the Revolution and these were “Islamic”, “national”, “leftist”, “eclectic”, and “critical of modernity”; the period from 1360 and on in which all trends except the Islamic one, were gradually isolated or dissolved, thus losing their influence in the political arena, or having less influence. In the second period, the political arena was basically under the control of the Islamic trend. These ups and downs, and continuation or isolation are ascribed to the relationship of each of these trends with the elements of Iranian national identity. “Iranianism” (consisting of such components as Persian language, Iranian etiquette, and … particularly political independence) along with “Shi‛ism” were two fundamental and interconnected factors of the Iranian identity after Safavid period. Each of these trends either lasted or was omitted, and isolated depending on the scale of their relationship with and sensitivity to these components of identity.