Continuity and Change during the Saddle Period: The Case of ʿirfān in Modern Persian Literature

Abstract

The concept of Sattlezeit was coined by Koselleck to identify a period of change and transformation in Europe beginning from the middle of eighteenth century in which the meaning of old concepts was changing to fit the conditions of a modern world and to account for the new relationship humans were developing with nature, history, and time.1 Koselleck focuses his analysis on concepts used in political discourse, specifically what he calls “basic concepts” without which communication in the realm of politics is not possible. Because they index newly emerged complex social and political realities, these concepts are highly complex, ambiguous, and contested.