The Political Significance of Myth

The Case of Iran and Kenya in a Comparative Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID3878010
AuthorsHaggai Ram (0000-0003-2515-4711, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, corresponding author), Haggay Ram (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Tel Aviv University, Israel), Galia Sabar (0000-0002-1431-8007, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), Galia Sabar-Friedman (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Tel Aviv University, Israel)
Year1996
Volume8
Issue1
Pages51-78
Publication date1996-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCultural Dynamics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0921-3740 • E-ISSN: 1461-7048
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/092137409600800104
OpenAlexW2075408994
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

The article compares and contrasts the political significance of myth in two unique societies that have been subject to rapid and profound changes in the last decades: Iran and Kenya. It focuses on the articulation and diffusion of these societies' most dominant politico-cultural myths-the Mau Mau struggle (1952-60) and the Karbala paradigm, i.e. the martyrdom suffered by the Third Shi'i Imam Husayn ibn 'Ali at Karbala in AD 680. The discussion shows how these myths have been indispensable in the process of forging the 'spirit', the ethos and political culture of contemporary society in Iran and Kenya. Both myths provided interpretative and exemplary notions that correspond to changing circumstances in Iran and Kenya, enabling political elites and the ordinary citizens to (re)define their reality and to direct their actions towards a visionary goal

Environmental ethics · Ethos · Mythology · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy

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