Mapping the Middle East by Zayde Antrim

Author:Zayde Antrim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reaktion Books

57 Turkish postage stamp issued on the occasion of the 1955 census.

By contrast, Iranian national mapping has accommodated, and to a certain extent celebrated, displays of ethnic diversity within state borders. The oldest private map publisher in Iran, Sahab Geographic and Drafting Institute, founded in 1936 and specializing in educational and historical cartography, has incorporated such displays into its products steadily from the 1950s to today.45 An example issued by Sahab in 1955 belongs to a popular mid-century English-language format for mapping Iran and includes, among other thematic maps, a depiction of ‘Tribal Costumes’ contained within the national geo-body on the centre left (illus. 58). The legend is titled ‘A Classification of Tribes’ and lists Turks, Turkmen, Kurds, Lurs, Bakhtiyaris, Arabs, Baluchis and others. On the one hand, the emphasis on ‘costumes’ and use of the term ‘tribe’ suggests that these groups are less than modern, thus undermining any claims they might have to their own nationalisms. This was also a tactic of the tradition of colonial mapping, as seen in the ‘Map of Algeria Divided by Tribes’ (see illus. 42).46 On the other hand, the design of the map suggests that the population of Iran is made up entirely of such diverse identities, as there is no empty space within the geo-body, nor is the ‘default’ citizen portrayed in any way. In this map, the Iranian nation is not just tolerant of heterogeneity, but defined by it.

Twenty-five years later the message remained the same. A Sahab map in Farsi from the early 1980s, like the earlier series, combines several different thematic maps in one (illus. 60). The title refers to the ‘Islamic Republic of Iran’, reflecting the country’s name change after the revolution of 1979; just beneath this lies the national geo-body filled with a visually diverse array of images, acting as the cover when the map is folded. The subtitle indicates that the topic of this cover image is ‘anthropology’ (mardum shināsī), which is translated as ‘ethno composition’ on English versions. Though this one lacks an explanatory legend, other editions published during the 1980s and ’90s, in both Farsi and English, provide a key to the map mentioning most of the groups named in the 1955 example, with the notable exception of ‘Arabs’. In fact, in an earlier edition of the English-language series, Arabs had already been omitted, leaving a noticeable blank space in the lower left corner of the legend, with the corresponding figures replaced by more neutral iconography on the map (illus. 59). This omission likely reflected border disputes with neighbouring Iraq, which was strongly identified as an Arab state, as well as persistent strains of anti-Arabism in nationalist discourses. The key to the Farsi map also includes more sociological categories – ‘city girl (Tehran)’, for example, and ‘shepherd’ – but the overall effect is still to highlight ethnic diversity. In the same manner, a stamp commemorating the first anniversary of the 1979 revolution features the national geo-body as a stylized mosaic of peoples in different costumes with the Iranian flag furled in the shape of the Caspian Sea (illus.

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