An Analysis of the Cultural Components in the Siyasatnameh and Qabusnameh and Their Comparison with Modern Citizenship Concepts from the Perspective of Civic Culture Development Based on Inglehart's Model

Subject Areas : Comparative Literature Studies

Mojde Hashemi ¹ , Abdollah Moghamiān Zadeh ^{2 *} , Ali Zahed ³ , masoud kheradmandpoor ⁴ , Ali Zahed ⁵

1 -
2 - -Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Dezful Campus, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran
3 - Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran
4 - استادیار /دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی دزفولAssistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Dezful Campus, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran.
5 - Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Dezful Campus, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran.

Received: 2025-03-24 Accepted : 2025-04-26 Published : 2025-11-27

Keywords: Inglehart, Siyasatnama, Qabusnameh, citizen culture, cultural components.,

Abstract :

Persian didactic literature has consistently played a pivotal role in articulating and transmitting the cultural, social, and political values of Iranian societies. It has served as a medium for teaching principles of governance, social ethics, and lifestyle. Two prominent works in this domain, Siyasatnama and Qabusnama, in addition to offering managerial and ethical teachings, reflect the values of the societies in which they were composed and provide models for individual and social conduct. Although these two books were written in specific historical contexts, they contain fundamental concepts that can be compared with modern notions of citizenship.Inglehart’s model, as one of the significant sociological theories, analyzes cultural transformations in societies based on two axes: traditionalism versus secular-rationalism, and survival versus self-expression values. This model illustrates how societies transition from traditional to modern value systems. Using this model, one can evaluate to what extent the teachings of these two classical works align with modern citizenship concepts such as social participation, individual rights, justice orientation, equality, and responsibility.This study, using a descriptive–comparative approach and a library-based methodology, identifies the cultural components of Siyasatnama and Qabusnama and examines their convergence or divergence with modern citizenship values. The findings indicate that although some teachings in these works—particularly in the areas of justice, social responsibility, and consultative governance—are consistent with modern citizenship values, certain concepts such as absolute obedience to authority, hierarchical structures, and elitist perspectives conflict with the participatory and egalitarian principles of contemporary citizenship. These findings suggest that while these works possess potential for reinforcing civic culture, they require critical reinterpretation to be effectively applied in today's social context.