Cultural Stream-making for Book Week Achieved by Avoiding Formalities

Mohammad Sadegh Rahmanian, a folklore expert, in an interview with an Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) reporter, discussed the place of books in folk culture, stating: ‘People’s culture, derived from their customs, traditions, and way of life, and the transformation of this life into a written matter, is very valuable; because throughout Iran’s history, theoretical sciences in various branches and literature have been transmitted orally. For example, the tradition of teaching in old schools involved the oral transmission of knowledge.’

He added, explaining that the oral transmission of knowledge also has roots in Iran’s historical tradition: ‘Iranians believed that, apart from holy books – meaning the sources of the Zoroastrian religion and the Holy Quran, the holy book of Muslims, and the Torah and the Gospel – no other book should exist; with an emphasis that religious sources should not be weakened by the publication of other books.’

Rahmanian spoke about the collection and publication of the first book on folk culture in Iran: ‘After folk culture gained importance outside Iran and it was said that the foundation of theoretical sciences rests on oral sciences or popular wisdom, therefore, for the first time, folk culture in Iran was compiled through the efforts of Seyyed Abolghasem Anjavi Shirazi.’

This folklore expert continued: ‘Seyyed Abolghasem Anjavi Shirazi was employed at the radio and asked people to document and send proverbs and behaviors they exhibited in specific situations. The collection of these materials was published as the book ‘Folk Culture of Iran’ by Soroush Publications. This book was further developed by Anjavi Shirazi’s students.’

He elaborated on the status of reading and ways to develop a reading culture: ‘In Iran’s history, books had a golden age that has ended; and it seems we are living in the golden age of virtual space. These two mediums, while helping each other, are also rivals.’

According to this folklore expert, one should not think that by publishing an image of a book in virtual space, we have created the groundwork for developing reading; these media, meaning books and virtual space, are rivals. ‘We must strive to promote deep understanding in virtual space,’ he said.

Rahmanian, emphasizing the unparalleled role of books in fostering deep understanding in the audience, stated: ‘Given that people worldwide are internally accelerating, they lack sufficient leisure for deep reading; therefore, it seems the depth of concepts in books has diminished and moved towards superficiality.’

He continued by stating that we must encourage a deep understanding of concepts: ‘Deeper understanding is not achieved with the speed of content dissemination in virtual space; whereas knowledge and awareness are realized through contemplation of books. The human mind gains creativity in the process of reading, but today it seems that new technologies, including artificial intelligence, decide for humans.’

The folklore expert spoke about some solutions for families to raise children with deep thinking: ‘It seems that some cultural changes are not within individuals’ control; just as we ourselves have experienced, many cultural changes have occurred from the time we studied in primary school until adulthood. For example, two decades ago, virtual space did not exist, while today it is competing with various media.’

Rahmanian, stating that we are forced to go along with the current cultural trend, added: ‘It seems that as we progress, the difficulties in dealing with virtual space will increase. As mentioned, technologies, like a will and a larger gear, command and have targeted creativity and deep thinking.’

According to him, some individuals who experienced old schools believe that we should simplify old knowledge; although this view is correct, it seems that we lose depth.

Rahmanian, referring to ways to strengthen the position of Book Week as a national event, stated: ‘The idea of the World Book Capital, implemented by a UNESCO resolution, was first introduced globally with Athens as the host. This idea was implemented in Iran with the selection of 10 cities as Iran’s Book Capital. The goal of holding the Iran Book Capital selection event is to create a movement for the development of reading, which was different and diverse in various cities each period.’

According to him, despite extensive efforts to create a movement around the topic of books, commemorating the selection of a city as Iran’s Book Capital and holding Book Week, there are obstacles to achieving the goals. ‘Overall, I think we have no choice but to pay attention to cultural and book-oriented policymaking from elementary school age,’ he concluded.’