Ph.D

Mostafa Hosseini Koumleh, P.H. D student will complete his P.H. D thesis on “A theoretical framework in determining the optimal threshold of change, continuity and constancy of the concept of collective memory in the historical center of Tehran" inTuesday,18 December 2021 , at 11:00 Am.

 
Abstract:
Change of values, intellectual customs, lifestyles and human relationship with the universe and nature, distortion of long-standing physical, socio-cultural cohesion are among the challenges of contemporary Iranian cities that have led to forgetting collective memories and changing the concept of the city. The research problem begins with the general concept of "collective memory" in Iranian cities and in order to observe the indigenous originality of the research, the research has been defined based on a "problem-oriented" research with a comparative evaluation of existing challenges of collective memory in Iranian cities and identifying the concept of "change" as the key issue of collective memory in Iranian cities. Therefore, while delimiting the scope of the study, the purpose of the research is to study change, continuity and constancy of the concept of city and collective memory and determine its optimal threshold in the historical center of Tehran as a symbol of change in Iranian cities.
The research uses a qualitative method and a phenomenological strategy (descriptive phenomenology). In this article, while reviewing the literature of collective memory, change, continuity and constancy, a theoretical framework for phenomenological study has been developed and based on it, an in-depth semi-structured interview with some residents of Tehran's historical center among various social groups has been conducted.
The results, in addition to the classification of collective memories (home and neighborhood memories such as the culture of acquaintance and neighborhood, courtyard, children's games in the alley, socio-cultural memories such as the nicknames of people, storytelling, ritual of Pahlavani and peaceful coexistence of religions, religious memories including home prayers, Muharrams and Mid-Sha'ban celebrations, national-political memories such as the coup of August 19, 1953, the Islamic Revolution and the Imposed War, natural memories like summer migration to Shemiran and urban memories such as new streets building in Reza Shah reign and the construction of modern urban buildings and facilities such as Plasco Building and electric buses), include the theoretical formulation of the concepts of “change”, “continuity” and “constancy” in the context of the historical center of Tehran. The theoretical formulation of the concept of change in the historical center of Tehran indicates four syndromes of "continuous change", "leaving the father's neighborhood", "empty nest" and "continuous forgetfulness". Also, the analysis of the concept of continuity shows that the "continuity of the identity structure" of the historical center of Tehran in some physical dimension (through the presence of historical buildings and architectural traditions), functional dimension (continuity of religious sites, the continuity of residence in some neighborhoods and functional continuance of Tehran Bazaar) and meaning-memory dimension (continuity of local character of some places and neighborhoods) are relatively still established; However, in terms of ecological structure, this connection has been distorted over time and therefore needs to be restored by restoring the role of wooded yards in creating a balance between private and public green spaces. Persistence of some historical buildings and urban spaces (such as Golestan Palace, 30th Tir Street), some religious rituals, historical bazaars and some natural elements (such as the continuous shadow of Alborz and the plane tree of Imamzadeh Yahya) also indicate the constancy of physical, behavioral, subjective and natural anchors of memory in the historical center of Tehran.
Based on the theoretical framework of the research, it can be said that the optimal threshold of change, continuity and constancy in the historical center of Tehran is to the extent that the “continuous change” of the area stops and its identity structure continues through dominance of restoration culture over culture of demolition and new construction, preservation of the character of the historical center, original lifestyles and permanent dwelling, which entails “stopping leaving the paternal neighborhood” and “returning to empty nests”. Also, the anchors of memory should be stabilized by preserving or finding physical clues (historical buildings), social clues (social context) and cultural clues (stories, proverbs and the sweet language of Tehran), which in turn leads to cessation of “continuous forgetfulness” and preservation of collective memory.
 
Keywords: collective memory, change, continuity, constance, optimal threshold, historical center of Tehran