'My nation is not soil, my nation is alive’: positioning Armenian christian identity in the islamic republic of Iran

This thesis is an ethnographic study of Armenian Christian identity in the Islamic Republic of Iran addressing the central question: to what extent has the exclusion of the religious minorities from the mainstream of Iran impacted on their ability or willingness to identify as Iranians? Moving beyond the discourse employed by official representatives, this study documents how Iranian Armenians living in Tehran – from a variety of age and class demographics, and with differing levels of involvement in community activities – conceive and express their identity. As a Christian minority in a state defined by Islam, Iranian Armenians relate their daily experiences, memories of discrimination and reactions to their marginal position to their identity. Many Armenians utilise their status as both a religious and ethnic minority to articulate why they do not consider themselves to be Iranians. As this discourse is more acute among the generation raised since the 1979 Revolution, whose attitudes towards other Iranians often differ sharply from those of their parents, this ethnography explores the consequences of their marginalisation. A significant part of this thesis examines how boundaries of identity are negotiated in Iran at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This includes how Armenians perceive themselves and other Iranians as well as how they consider that they are perceived the Muslim majority. Essentially, by living in a state defined by another religion, many Iranian Armenians struggle to feel part of the society and this contributes to the continual decline of the community through emigration much more strongly than any ‘intolerance’ from the society. This has great implications for the future of Iran and religious diversity in the Middle East.