Mythic Thought and Search for an Authentic Identity in Early Shaygan

Dariush Shaygan is one of the most prominent thinkers in the contemporary realm of Iranian intellectualism whose ideas have received many attentions all over the world. With regard to the destructive assault of modernity which tried to vanish eastern values and morals, Shaygan called for a return to the local values and traditions, a call which was heard by other intellectuals such as Fardid, Al-e Ahmad, Shariati and Naraqi in 1960s. In examining the relationship between mythic thought of Shaygan and his ideas about the West and East, the article, using the approach of sociology of thought and mythical criticism, tries to test this hypothesis that Shaygan, having viewed the world through mythical lenses composed of elements including irrationalism, collectivism, cyclical concept of time, and establishing imaginary binary opposition, had a transcendental and aesthetic concept of the East which resulted in overlooking the realities and failures of eastern culture. Consequently, he prescribed a return to the local, authentic identity as the only panacea for the harassment of western Modernity.