A modernidade no Ocidente e no Oriente e o processo de formação humana à luz da teoria crítica de Theodor Adorno

Abstract

This dissertation examines the contradictions inherent in the dominant modernization project that permeate relations between East and West, given that this project focuses on the process of human formation (Bildung). The historical focus of the research is Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the overall objective is to analyze the concept of Bildung in light of critical social theory, which legitimizes the possibility of social transformation by establishing a relationship between testimonial literature and socio-historical and identity-related developments, culture, and religious traditions in Iran permeated by dominant Western modernization. To this end, the works Persepolis (2007) by Marjane Satrapi and Reading Lolita in Tehran (2023) by Azar Nafisi were selected, due to their form of “testimonial literature.” The bibliographic methodology is also documentary in nature, given the analysis of the works, due to their testimonial character. Both works serve as historical sources, allowing for an understanding of the reality of Iran from the narrator’s perspective. Final considerations of the research indicate that religion functions as a form of domination, just as modernity does, establishing a traditionalist and religious Iran that does not completely break with modernity and justifies domination based on Islam, in contrast to the domination exercised by the West.