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Paper short abstract:

This paper will examin the technologies of remembrance in the the Islamic Shiite religion, in Iran, through the political history of Shiite in connection with the massacre of Husayn, his family and his companions.

Paper long abstract:

With the Shiite Ṣafawīd dynasty (1501-1722), the historical story of Husayn’s oppositional movement and the tragic outcome of his rebellion against the ruling caliph of the time, Yazīd, developed into a self-reflecting, powerful source that connected all oppositional movements in the Shiite community against all kinds of tyranny. The conflict that ended with the massacre of Husayn, his family and his companions had a tremendous impact. The mourning over their catastrophic demise was readily adopted into older forms of mourning rituals already existent in every region. During the 18 century these gently gave birth to a form of theatre, called Taʿziyih, structured around the polarisations of Husayn’s story and the definitions of mukhālifkhawānī (antagonist) and muwāfiqkhawānī (protagonist). A taʿziyih concentrates on this paramount moment in Shiite history. It is performed over several days with different storylines, all of which revolve around the Karbalāʾ massacre. Every theatre performance ends with the martyrdom of one of the famous characters connected to Husayn; it is therefore named after the main protagonist to be killed last on stage. This paper will examine the historical/political role that taʿziyih plays in remembering mass murder as an ongoing process of legitimizing political power, through the history of Iran.