The literacy corps in Pahlavi Iran (1963-1979) : political, social and literary implications

Abstract

This article is an investigation into the Literacy Corps which took place within the White Revolution implemented in Iran from 1963 to 1979 during the reign (1941-1979) of the late Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. According to the Literacy Corps programme, young men holding the diploma of secondary education (mainly urban middle-class youth) were given the option of serving in the Literacy Corps instead of spending two years in the regular army. This article argues that the Literacy Corps had an impact not only on the literacy rate of the Iranian population living in rural areas, but also on the perception of the regime by the corpsmen themselves. In fact, while employed in the villages, some of the educated urban youth involved in the Literacy Corps read revolutionary poetry and prose, kept notes and gradually developed their own political views. According to the author's findings, the Literacy Corps helped the growing of political ideas which went against the regime and eventually exploded into the Islamic Revolution of 1979. SFS