Varzi examines the construction of identity among Iranian youth in the post-revolution environment and, in particular, the role of propaganda, murals, media, and film in shaping this identity.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-268) and index.

Divination : an archeology of the unknown -- The image and the hidden master -- Mystic states : martyrdom and the making of the Islamic republic -- Shooting soldiers, shooting film : the cinema of the Iranian sacred defense -- Visionary states : inhabiting the city, inhabiting the mind -- Shifting subjects : public law and private selves -- Majnun's mask : sex, suicide, and semiotic malfunctioning -- The ghost in the machine : (just war?) remainders and reminders of war -- Reforming religious identity in post-Khatami Iran -- Mehdi's climb.