Culture

Culture and Communication: An Overview

CULTURE

While there are three countries that claim the language of Persian to be their official language, the majority of Persian speakers are Iranian. Thus, the term "Persian" generally refers to the Iranian in their specific culture. However, there is significant cultural overlap between the Iran, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan cultures, especially amongst those that practice the Islamic faith. This site specifically deals with the personal culture of a Persian speaking student, in order to inform the teacher how to best communicate with their Persian students. For more general cultural information in Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, please try one of these links:

Please click on the region for broadly defined cultural information

NOTE: The majority of the following cultural information is based on the research by Massoume Price, and is used with her permission.

While contemporary Persian culture is a mix of modernized ideals and traditional values, especially in the larger cities, it is generally class based and patriarchal. Class is determined mainly by three factors: income/financial status, family genealogy, and more recently, modernity. Iranian society takes the obligations of status very seriously. There is a defined division of labour:

*MALE*	*FEMALE*
Public domain: (work outside the home)	Domestic work: (work inside the home)
Highly trained/paid positions in sophisticated work environments	Lesser trained/lesser paid positions in sophisticated work environments

While the lower classes in Persian society generally regard females as inferior, the more modern work environments are working to eliminate gender discrimination. Those placed in the highest social classes are obligated to rise to their positions and retain them by fulfilling obligations towards the inferior classes. This will ensure their support and respect.

Most Persians follow the Islamic faith, but can be divided into two distinct groupings, that act as a continuum; both observe Islam's codes of behaviour but in varying degrees:

*MODERN MUSLIM CULTURE*	*TRADITIONAL MUSLIM CULTURE*
choice marriages, but may choose to have an arranged marriage	arranged marriages, with usually no choice; it is a family's decision
may not limit their diet and may drink alcohol	do not eat pork and do not drink alcohol
choice to dance at parties, and choice to observe religious ceremony	may not dance, may avoid shaking hands with opposite genders, will observe religious ceremony
women and men openly socialize	women and men only socialize within the marriage or concubine relationship, women become extremely uncomfortable when approached by males in public
women choose their dress, and may choose to wear makeup	women wear conservative, traditional clothing, often completely covering their whole body

Free image from Persian Club

It becomes apparent through the Persian's behaviour, dress, and interaction how traditional or modern they are, and what behaviour to expect in reaction to an outsider. One may even be cued as to their social class, as upper classes are expected to dress more expensively and to own more material showy items.

Dressing formally is regarded as respect, and Persians may be offended by lack of effort by strangers or outsiders to dress in suits, dresses, and nice shoes. Informal dress is reserved for intimate family gatherings. Many Persians refuse to wear ties, as they believe it to be a 'western' custom. Many associate a beard with political alliance to one national party and thus avoid growing a full beard.

Persians generally love to entertain, but it is expected that all in attendance will behave in a quiet manner. The higher the social class, the more elaborate the party. General courtesy and manners are insisted upon, especially at mixed parties. The host and her daughters serve the food and tea, and insist that guests partake. This public insistence is known as 'tarof.' Guests can refuse politely. Public promises of service or gifts by Persians happen commonly, and are understood to not be genuine.

Persians respect their elderly, and are given high status. Often they are referred to in third person pronoun. They are consulted in most important affairs such as family arranged marriages.

The Persian culture is highly patriarchal, though many of the following long-standing gender divisions are now being challenged by westernized cultural thought or financial necessity:

Men are mainly concerned with financial decisions and consult other males for financial advice, rather than their spouses

Women bear children and manage the home

Male children have more freedom than female children

There is no stigma for males to have sex before marriage but female virginity is still insisted upon by a large portion of Persian society

Men inherit property, and can be favoured in divorce rulings and custody battles

Men are mainly concerned with financial decisions

COMMUNICATION

NOTE: The majority of the following communication information is based on the research by Professor William Beeman, (of Brown University), and is used with his permission.

The communication process amongst Persians continually enforces the social class stratification, where the speaker is constantly aligning him/herself to the listener through specific language conventions. One specific convention, an "inside/outside" social/spatial division, while not unique to Iran, (also found in Indonesia, Japan), is predominant in most communicative situations:

	*INSIDE: BATEN*	*OUTSIDE: ZAHER*
*PHILOSOPHICAL*	Seat of strongest personal feelings	Realm of controlled expression
*GEOGRAPHICAL*	Place to allow freedom of expression. (Private/Domestic)	Realm of corruption to be either manipulated/avoided.(Public)

Both Persian women and men are most intimate with family members when in their home. It is a safe place to allow the most personal of feelings to be displayed. In contrast, when in the outside realm, one's true feelings must be concealed, and the proper "public" code must be honoured in one's choice of words. Those who share the same social class can use "inside" language more freely than those who are in differing stratifications.

There are common linguistic signals that are used between Persians in an interaction to convey their social status. They may choose stylistic variation of sentences, (higher class using "command" sentences), or pronoun alteration, (lower class referring to oneself as "slave"). Through specific use of verbs and pronouns, and using stylistic inside/outside language, Persians accomplish three cultural conventions:

1. Inequality

Establish the status of the other by raising or lowering own status

"I went"	"Slave went"
"I suggest"	"I command"

2. Express Emotions

Violate basic conventional language interaction to convey emotion by switching their inside/outside language

Son: "I'm home."

Mother: "It is nice that Your Highness decided to present Himself."

3. Intensify appropriate communication behaviour.

Use language and behaviour that overstresses the social inequality in an outside situation. (Uses inside behaviour in an outside situation)

Scenario: An employer is firing an employee for poor workmanship. The employee begs to keep his job. When he does not receive the respect or answer he desires from the employer he switches his "Sir" to "Uncle," a more familiar term, and breaks down in tears at the prospect of the job loss. Seeing the emotional outburst, the employer is moved to consider giving one last chance to the employee, as he becomes convinced that the employee is sincerely distraught.

There is also an identifiable form of communication in culturally identified body movements. In outside/zaher situations, one's body movements are restricted. The body is stiff and upright, the hands are usually clasped together in front of the body, and eye contact (especially cross-gender) is avoided. It is considered rude to have one's feet pointing forward when sitting on the ground. In inside/baten situations, amongst closest family members, there is a general loosening of body movements. The individuals may lounge more comfortably.