Threshold of Madness

Eyvaz Taha - Avae Tabid (Voice of Exile) - Jun 17, 2022

Eyvaz Taha

This analysis of the novel I Want to Go Mad (originally titled in Turkish: “Dəli Olmaq İstəyirəm”) is written by the novel’s own author, Eyvaz Taha. In his reflections, Taha offers a profound insight into the interplay and tension between reason and madness. The novel tells the story of an exile, speaking of resistance and liberation within its own linguistic and cultural framework. By using Azerbaijani Turkish, it challenges cultural hegemony. The main character is in search of a passage from reason to madness but is constantly caught on the boundary between the two. Taha’s writing reflects on the concept of consciousness and the complexities of the human experience, where rationality and madness are interwoven.

Through his novel, Taha seeks to establish a dialectical relationship between reason and madness, challenging the reader to gain a deeper understanding of complex concepts such as freedom, consciousness, and language.

#ManoFarsi: “Farsi and Me” — Narratives of Mother-Tongue Suffering

Eyvaz Taha - February 08, 2022

Eyvaz Taha, philosopher, writer, and political commentator.

Many citizens have recounted the suffering they have experienced because of the imposition of the Persian language. The hashtag #ManoFarsi—meaning “Farsi and Me”—created a virtual storm in the truest sense of the term. It elicited numerous responses and provoked nervous reactions from centralists. Yet, despite the hostility of certain ethnocentric figures, this hashtag does not call for the elimination of Persian; rather, it articulates a demand for linguistic justice. 

Fear of Separatism

Eyaz Taha - Problematicaa - February 20, 2020

Eyaz Taha, writer, journalist, and philosopher.

The Latent Violence of the ‘Separatism’ Accusation: The Erasure of the Political.

The center consists of a structure based on a monolingual nation-state that has existed for a hundred years. Centralism, too, is not inherently fixed in nature; rather, it is a dynamic comprised of various factions that, at the cost of dissolving diversity, advocate for a monolingual nation-state. This center—also referred to as the dominant discourse—owes its continued existence to two key misconceptions, both of which are crucial to understanding current crises and could be resolved to address many of today’s problems.

The first is that the center always presents itself as a supra-ethnic and supra-class reality; this essay focuses on the supra-ethnic aspect. The second is that it assumes the social order revolves eternally around it.

Why Emphasizing the Mother Tongue Is Liberatory

By Eyvaz Taha - December 24, 2018

Eyvaz Taha

One could approach this issue from a narrow nationalist perspective, but I consider it through the liberatory nature of the political, and I speak through words. As Elfriede Jelinek puts it: “One who no longer speaks may immediately commit murder.”

Confronting Radical Doubt: Cartesian Reflections

Eyvaz Taha – March 19, 2015

I recommend, to myself and to others, that once in a lifetime, one should confront a radical doubt. This doubt envelops every aspect of human existence—every piece of knowledge, every belief, every action. Maintaining a coherent worldview becomes nearly impossible without entering this complex, convoluted, and terrifying state. The true result of such doubt might be called “freedom.”

Humans are given beings: they are born without their own consent into a particular society, in a particular place. By their own will, they are not bound to any nation. They carry a name they did not choose, religious beliefs and moral principles they did not invent. Sometimes, they even remain bound to circumstances they themselves have created. Testing the freedom I describe, one cannot fully liberate oneself from this inescapable connection to the given situation.

Eyvaz Taha: Language Is the Home of Our Being

By Alirza Quluncu, Voice of America, February 17, 2015

Eyvaz Taha

In a conversation with Voice of America, Southern Azerbaijani philosopher Eyvaz Taha stated that language is a fundamental factor in the identity of Turks living in Iranian Azerbaijan, but it should not be seen as a threat to Persians or Iran’s territorial integrity. The author of books such as "There Is No World Beyond the Text" in Turkish philosophy and literature argues that in analytic philosophy today, language is no longer viewed merely as a tool or a passive phenomenon.

Totalitarianism Makes Politics Impossible

 By Eyvaz Taha - January 29, 2014

Eyvaz Taha

An open letter to Iranian intellectuals, thinkers, and politicians regarding the recent position of some members of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature

Some members of the Academy of the Persian Language have recently made astonishing remarks, opposing the Rouhani administration’s efforts to teach mother tongues and to establish an Academy for the Azerbaijani Turkish Language. These are scholars who, by virtue of their duty to seek truth, are expected to speak with scientific and logical precision. Yet, they have taken the path of politicians—those who neither care about reality nor feel committed to the truth.

The Methodology of Fascism

Eyvaz Taha - May 22, 2011

In an era marked by rising misinformation and ideological extremism, understanding the mechanisms behind fascist ideology and conspiracy thinking has become critically urgent. Both rely on confusion—particularly the conflation of impulse with thought—and invert the rational process by starting with conclusions and selectively searching for evidence. Unlike philosophy, which moves from known truths toward new insights, conspiracy theories reverse this method, undermining the pursuit of truth.

At the heart of both fascism and conspiracism lies a shared assumption: that fear is the root of all phenomena. This belief, accepted without question, becomes self-reinforcing—demanding no proof and discouraging scrutiny. As a result, emotional reactions often take precedence over rational evaluation, eroding the foundations of critical thinking and debate.

Rumi Is, in the Truest Sense, Postmodern!

By Eyvaz Taha - Feb 05, 2008

The tomb of Shams Tabrizi in Khoy, Azerbaijan

The Land of Sunrise: Shams of Tabriz and Rumi

I tried hard not to write anything for Rumi’s 800th anniversary, because as a small human being, I was afraid of carrying the weight of such a vast world on my shoulders. Trying to do justice to both Shams of Tabriz and the jurist of Rum in a short article felt absurd to me; I just wanted to carry my deep love for them in my heart. But it didn’t work — I couldn’t escape the obsession of writing. This little piece was writing itself through me. The quotations in quotation marks are generally taken from Shams’s Maqalat and Rumi’s grand divan under the title “Shams.”

The Azerbaijan Democratic Party and a One-Sided Judgment

 Eyvaz Taha - Sep 15, 2017

The Azerbaijan Democratic Party

The story goes back to three years ago. The publication Shargh in its issue dated December 16, 2004 (25 Azar 1383) published an article entitled "A Look at Newly Released Documents Regarding the Formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party by Stalin’s Order." In the said article, relying on three documents obtained by Jamil Hasanli from the KGB archives, a stamp of betrayal was placed on the record of the Pishevari government. That year, when the intimacy of this newspaper with Pan-Iranists had reached its peak, numerous articles were published about the Democratic government in Tabriz. The fundamental approach of these articles was to remove the Azerbaijani element from the conditional legitimacy of the movement. Since Shargh, at least by its own claim, respected freedom of speech, I sent a humble response. The editors of Shargh requested a moderation of one of the points in my reply, but after my refusal, my text was sent to the archive of that esteemed journal’s darkroom. Shargh is now caught in the twilight of its exile, but the story of our amazement and bewilderment remains. There is no sorrow, because this is Asian democracy. That reply was lost in the turmoil I experienced some time ago, but the carefulness of a friend in preserving an image of that humble reply has caused it to be brought back to the field once again. Now that reply, with a delay of over two years, reads as follows:

To Change the World or Adapt to It?

Eyvaz Taha - Sep 06, 2007

Even if comprehending the world does not always result in a total understanding, changing it or adapting to it is a global concern. The politician tries to shape society according to the desires of the masses, while the Sufi attempts to adapt to the world. Marx considered transforming the world to be more important than understanding it, while Yunus Emre referred to the ideal world that exists in the memory of the perfect human being when he felt alienated from the changing world. Plato, Farabi, Machiavelli, and even George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, who lived and created more recently, described ideal societies that could be considered steps taken in the direction of changing the world.

So where are the theoretical roots of this idea located? How do Eastern and Western cultures approach the question of changing or adapting to the world? Even if this short article does not provide a definitive answer to these questions, it attempts to formulate the issue correctly.