Redefining Culture in Aftab va Zamin: A Critique of the Discourse of Absence and the Conceptualization of “True Capital” in the Constitutional ErA

The Constitutional Era marked a turning point in the history of political thought in Iran, during which new concepts such as “culture,” “progress,” and “civilization” were formulated within the consciousness of the intellectual elite. Drawing on a postcolonial approach and the method of critical phenomenology, this study examines the treatise Aftab va Zamin (The Sun and the Earth), written by Mirza Abbas Yazdi in 1332 AH, and demonstrates how the treatise offers an alternative to the reified conception of culture prevalent within a dominant discourse of absence that defined Iran in terms of what it lacked. The findings show that, through four fundamental ruptures—radical criticism of modern progress and civilization; a reinterpretation of Iranian history as a source of spiritual capital; a critique of imitative constitutionalism and an emphasis on cultural contexts; and a critique of the modern political economy—the author challenges the Orientalist epistemic logic and the discourse of absence, formulating an alternative conception of Iranian culture. Within this alternative, “true capital,” defined as beliefs and spiritual values, is presented as a counterpoint to the discourse of absence. By bringing an overlooked treatise to the fore, this study demonstrates that even amid the dominance of Orientalist discourse, alternative voices existed that subjected its fundamental premises to critical scrutiny. A critical rereading of this treatise can contribute to revising dominant narratives of the cultural history of the Constitutional Era and to rethinking the concept of “culture” on the basis of Iran’s historical and spiritual resources.