Documentation of Intergenerational Transmission on Zoroastrian Women's Silk Weaving
New approach to the intergenerational transmission of Zoroastrian silk weaving
Marie Curie Project by Azadeh Pashootanizadeh
The DocZow project is completely original and unparalleled in the field of Iranian studies, as it targets the textiles of both the Zoroastrian women’s community and the intergenerational transmission of skills, techniques and patterns.
The tradition of silk weaving is said to originate from the Sassanid era and is linked to the Chinese silk heritage. The centrality of silk in this project and the importance of the Silk Road in the trade of this expensive commodity to Iran in the Sassanid era will show some of the unknown aspects of Zoroastrian oral culture that traveled with silk fabrics.
Due to the importance of purity in religion, non-native and imported silk and the use of colors were associated with religious violations. In addition, before the arrival of silk, the traditional dress of Zoroastrian women, which was considered a symbol of their cultural identity, was made of cotton or wool as domestic materials. Therefore, the introduction of silk strongly influenced the social, cultural and religious aspects of Zoroastrians.
Silk is considered a single-sex product for Zoroastrians, because only Zoroastrian women weave silk and wear silk clothes. For this reason, Zoroastrian silk weavers have been powerful businesswomen in the field of silk production throughout history and have become Curators, whose houses displayed all kinds of women’s clothing and exquisite silk fabrics.
They taught the secrets of silk weaving and silk-related arts to girls through fairy tales and narrated the stories in the Zoroastrian language to keep silk weaving in the monopoly of their women’s society.
From this point of view, linguistic continuity in general and the development of the specialized terminology of silk weaving was vested in the Zoroastrian female communities.
Moreover, Zoroastrian women found ways to combine silk weaving with other domestic tasks and to carve out space and time for silk production and their own economy of investments and trade. The production took place in dedicated spaces in private homes or communal spaces for women only. Therefore, the connection of silk with Zoroastrian women led to the formation of a special type of oral literature, culture and traditions, which served as a tool for the intergenerational transmission of silk weaving techniques and skills through the Zoroastrian language, Dari Behdini.
Project aims and outreach
The main axes of this research include the following:
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Links and mechanisms between intangible and material culture:
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The role of silk textiles in oral traditions and literature as a symbol of the link between material culture and the intangible heritage of Zoroastrian women.
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Terminology of silk fabric and its effects in intergenerational transmission.
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The role of Zoroastrian religion in relation to women and silk textiles.
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The flexible and adjustable position of Zoroastrian religious rulings about the silk textiles of Zoroastrian women, across centuries.
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The relationship between silk textiles and the cultural identity of Zoroastrian women.
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Dress-codes and cultural identity of silk clothing in Zoroastrian women’s society.
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The evolution of silk textile and its connection with the cultural identity of Zoroastrian women.
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