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Khatami says Iranology essential to dialogue among civilizations |
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Tehran, June 17, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami here Monday underlined expansion and strengthening of `Iranology' as an explicit aspect of dialogue among civilizations and a way for confronting the increasing crises caused by global war-mongers and superpowers. Inaugurating the National Iranology Conference, he said, "In addition to the auspicious effect of Iranology on the identification of various aspects of Iran's culture and civilization, it might as well serve as one of the most outstanding manifestations of dialogue among civilizations at the highest and most practical scientific and theoretical levels." He added that the cries of warmongers and the lust for domination of the superpowers, who perhaps consider themselves as inheritors of former colonizers, makes the world face a new crisis everyday, while their intellectuals feel the need for materializing dialogue among civilizations more than ever. He stressed that under such circumstances, various aspects of dialogue among civilizations should be practiced more than ever before. He added that Iranology is a gateway enabling individuals to hear, identify and converse, which should be opened in a new way and with a revised arrangement. He also underlined the need for cultural and historical research by Orientalogists and Iranologists and added that Iranology does not merely mean to see the other side, while its other aspect is to see oneself in another mirror. He said, "Iranology is a type of self-identification in the present rather than the past and one should look to the future once Iranology is approached instead of limiting oneself to the past." He recalled that Iranology with such an outlook is a type of dialogue, through Iranologists, between the culture and civilization to which one belongs and the limits of Iran's civilization. President Khatami said that Iranology is meaningless without loving Iran, having an objective idea on it and living in it. He underlined the role of Persian language as the historical and cultural connection between the regional nations and emphasized its role in identification of civilizations in the area. He said that during the recent decades, Iranology, Islamology and Orientology have been subject to fundamental changes which might not be ignored simply. The four-day conference is attended by Iranologists and intellectuals from the Central Asian and Caucasian states, Middle East, Indian sub-continent, eastern and southern Asia and European countries. Conference participants are to discuss the following specialized topics: history and historical geography, Iranian literature, linguistics, art and archaeology, the Iranian economy, history of science and Islamic sciences in Iran, anthropology and public culture, management and and foreign policy, bibliography, and general Iranology issues. On the sidelines of the conference, participants will pay visits to the National Iranian Documents Organization, Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization, National Library, Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi Library, Museum of Contemporary Arts and other national institutions. |
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