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Emissaries of Enlightenment: Azeri Theater Troupes in Iran and Central Asia, 1906–44

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Kelsey Rice Open the ORCID record for Kelsey Rice [Opens in a new window]
Kelsey Rice*
Affiliation:
Berry College
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Abstract

At the turn of the century, Azeri intellectuals embraced their unique position at the intersection of the Russian, Ottoman, and Iranian Empires by taking on the self-appointed role trans-imperial reformers. Moving with relative ease from Baku to Istanbul, Tabriz, Tehran, Bukhara, and beyond, Azeri reformist intellectuals were neither insular nor modest in their aspirations as they promoted social and cultural reform. This article explores Azeri efforts to promote their vision of progress to fellow Muslims in Iran and Central Asia through the most radical genre of cultural expression embraced by Azeri intellectuals: the theater. Using indigenous language sources to focus on these activities, this article demonstrates the far-reaching influence of Azeri cultural productions and the expansive ambitions of Azeri reformist intellectuals.

Keywords

Azerbaijan: Iran: Central Asia: Theater Troupes: Drama: Opera: Huseynqulu Sarabski: Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Type
Art and Art History
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 54 , Issue 3-4 , July 2021 , pp. 427 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2021

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Footnotes

This work was supported by the Social Science Research Council under the International Dissertation Research Fellowship, American Councils under the Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Grant, and the American Research Institute in the South Caucasus under the Graduate Student, Postdoctoral, and Junior Faculty Research Fellowship. I would like to thank Dr. Gulnar Kendirbai for organizing and inviting me to participate in the workshop “Reform and Revolution: Discourses of Modernity in Late Imperial Russia and Beyond” at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, from which this article was born.

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