The Zurkhāneh and Its Milieu

A Study of Traditional Athletics in Iran
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-0-674-29882-8
Verlag: Harvard University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 29, 286 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 454 g

Reihe: Ilex Series

The athletes known in Iran as pahlavans and the domed structure, the zurkhaneh, where they congregate to practice ritualized martial arts, physical culture, and spirituality, are usually presented as the cornerstone of traditional Iranian masculine identity. However, this idealization does not do justice to the complex history of Iranian society. Philippe Rochard, who has observed the zurkhaneh world for the past thirty years and actually lived in it for over four years, sets out to reveal through his own experience and a reconsideration of the extant historiography the various identities—real or imagined—of the zurkhaneh, its role within ancient and contemporary Iranian society, and the intimate mechanisms of the male societies that frequent it, as well as the moral and social values—real or simply proclaimed—that the athletes embody. This immersive study gives us an opportunity to observe at close quarters the workings of a sporting passion and way of life, and to discover how the forms and norms of the staging of the self and of the group have evolved in Iran.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rochard, Philippe

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Sport Kampfsportarten, Selbstverteidigung Ringen
• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Sport Geschichte des Sports
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten

Über Autor(innen)

Rochard, Philippe
Philippe Rochard is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Strasbourg and former director of the Institut Français de Recherche en Iran (IFRI) in Tehran.