An Examination of the Educational Function of Sacred Defense Memoirs in Universities and Schools

Compiled by Mohammad Mehdi Bahdarvan
Translator: Fazel Shirzad

2026-2-24

Introduction: Memoirs That Came to the Classroom

Though the war ended four decades ago, its memories and wounds remain a powerful current within Iranian society. The war ended but the "narration of the war" proved interminable. In the 1980s, the front lines were the main arena of experience and presence. Fighters defended the country's borders with their lives, and the people on the home front became their comrades through sacrifice and resilience. But when the sound of guns fell silent, an important question arose: How should this immense experience be transmitted to subsequent generations?

The answer to this question was born in the ensuing years in the form of war literature, particularly "Sacred Defense memoir books." These books became living narratives of individuals, each of whom, in their own way, carried a piece of history. Books such as Da: The Memoirs of Seyyedeh Zahra Hosseini, Noureddin, And Son of Iran: The Memoirs of Noureddin Afi, The Left-Behind Foot: The Memoirs of Seyyed Nasser Hosseinipour, or the collection Greetings to Ebrahim managed to connect with a wide audience and achieve sales in the millions.

These books were no longer just cultural works; they became part of the collective memory of the Iranian nation. In recent years, one of the most significant cultural questions has been: Are these books merely narratives for personal study, or can they play a role as "educational tools" within the country's educational system? Can Sacred Defense memoirs transform schools and universities from dry, formal classrooms into arenas of living narrative and experience?

The answer to these questions must be sought in the educational experiences of schools and universities. The reality is that Sacred Defense memoir books, especially when selected and taught correctly, have a function far beyond mere entertainment or even historiography. They can turn classrooms into settings for education, identity formation, and indirect instruction.

School: The Primary Field for Narratives

School is the first place where the younger generation encounters the concept of the "Sacred Defense." In history and literature textbooks, short chapters are dedicated to the war and martyrs, but these official texts are often dry, general, and lack human detail. The main impact begins elsewhere: with "memoir books."

Students' Experience with Memoir Books

When a middle or high school student reads the book Greetings to Ebrahim, they are no longer merely faced with a few lines of historical information. In the mirror of the narrative, they get to know a teenager their own age who grew up, played, and had similar concerns in the alleys of the same towns, but who embarked on a path of faith and resistance. Such an encounter creates an emotional, moral, and identity-forming experience that no official textbook can replicate.

Educational Functions in Schools

Sacred Defense memoirs in the school environment function not only as a historical source but also as an effective educational and developmental tool. These memoirs have several key functions, and with a little attention, one can observe the depth of their impact on students' minds and behavior:

Strengthening National and Religious Identity:

The personal narratives of the fighters make students feel that they, too, are a part of this history. When a teenager reads in a book about a fighter who, at the moment of bidding farewell to his family, speaks simultaneously of his love for his mother and his faith in God, an emotional and intellectual connection is forged between them and that generation. These memoirs instill national and religious identity in the student's soul in a way that cannot be achieved solely through official textbooks.

Creating Role Models for Behavior and Morality:

The war heroes in these books are not inaccessible superheroes, but ordinary people who achieved heroic status through significant choices and difficult decisions. When a student sees that a 16 or 17-year-old could bravely be present at the front while also being concerned about their studies and family, they find a real-life model for their own daily life. These models are highly effective in shaping character, social commitment, and a sense of responsibility.

Indirect and Engaging Learning:

While official history textbooks focus more on memorizing events, dates, and names, Sacred Defense memoirs engage the student with lived experience through simple language and narrative storytelling. Details like how they ate in the trenches, the jokes shared among the fighters, or the hardships of operation nights make the learning process sweet and memorable. This type of informal and indirect learning has greater staying power and transforms history into a tangible human experience.

Fostering Collective Solidarity and Teamwork:

When a class collectively reads and then discusses a book like Da or The Left-Behind Foot, a shared experience is formed that enhances the spirit of unity and empathy. Classroom discussions around these books also provide an opportunity for intergenerational dialogue, demonstrating that history does not merely belong to the past, but is a legacy that also shapes the future.

Concrete Examples and Successful Experiences

Book Reading Competitions:

In many schools across the country, book reading competitions are held focusing on Sacred Defense works. These competitions motivate students to pick up books they might not have approached under normal circumstances. The excitement of competition gives reading a new flavor and turns the school environment into a vibrant cultural space.

Rahian-e Noor (Caravans of Light) Trips:

One successful experience combining theoretical and field education is the Rahian-e Noor trips. A student who has read a book like Noureddin, Son of Iran or Greetings to Ebrahim before the trip has a profound emotional experience when setting foot in places like Shalamcheh or Hoveyzeh [area]. In this state, the geographical location merges with the book's narrative in their mind, creating multi-layered and lasting learning.

Essay and Literature Classes:

Creative teachers use war memoirs as a platform to enhance students' imagination and writing skills. Sometimes, after reading a part of a memoir, students are asked to write the continuation of the story using their imagination or express their personal interpretation in the form of an essay. This method, in addition to fostering creativity, makes students view history with a more humanistic perspective and consider it a part of their own lives.

Holding Dialogue Sessions with Narrators:

In some schools, veterans or authors of these memoirs are invited to recount their stories directly to the students. This live, human connection has a double impact, as the student encounters the face and voice of someone who was truly present within the context of history.

Limitations in Schools

Despite all these potentials, the presence of memoir books in schools has mostly been extracurricular. In official textbooks, there is only a passing reference to the Sacred Defense, and less attention is paid to living narratives. This gap shows that the educational system has not yet been able to fully utilize the potential of memoirs.

University: From Text to Analysis

The university environment is different from school. Here, the student is not merely a "passive reader" of memoirs but should see them as a "source" and, beyond the pleasure of reading, engage in historical, social, and cultural analysis. This is where the educational functions of Sacred Defense memoirs in universities take on a new color.

Memoirs as a Historical Source

In the fields of history and social sciences, Sacred Defense memoir books have gained an important place as primary sources. For example, The Left-Behind Foot is not only a harrowing account of an Iranian prisoner in Iraqi camps but also provides a human and objective picture of the conditions of war and captivity that no official book or government report can convey. Such works have been introduced as course texts or supplementary resources in some universities and have been subject to analysis.

Educational Functions in Universities

Enhancing Critical Analysis Skills:

By reading memoirs, students learn to analyze personal narrative within a broader social and political framework. This exercise increases their capacity for critique and questioning, teaching them to read every text not as absolute truth, but as a part of a complex historical reality.

Creating a Bridge between Generations:

A large portion of today's university students were born after the war and have not experienced it. For them, memoirs serve as a connecting bridge between the war generation and the post-war generation. This connection brings history to life in the student's mind, turning it into a personal and tangible subject.

Inspiration for Producing Academic and Artistic Works:

In the fields of literature, art, and media, war memoirs have inspired many novels, screenplays, documentaries, and plays. Students who study these texts find raw, living material for creating new artistic works and research.

Familiarity with Oral History Methodology:

Memoir books are practically a living classroom for learning oral history research methods. By reading these texts, students become familiar with the process of interviewing, data collection, compilation, and even the role of memory and emotion in recording history. This experience is invaluable for those intending to research in the field of oral history or cultural studies.

Interdisciplinary Application

Psychology: Memoirs of veterans and prisoners of war are an unparalleled source for studying resilience, psychological endurance, and mechanisms of hope in difficult circumstances.

Political Science: The narratives of commanders can serve as case studies for examining strategic decision-making in crisis situations.

Sociology: The memoirs of women, families of martyrs, and relief workers offer a new perspective on women's social roles and the dynamics of society during wartime.

Art and Media: Analyzing the narrative structure in these books inspires new techniques in fiction writing, screenwriting, and even media content production.

Successful University Experiences

Some universities have held book critique and review sessions. In these meetings, after studying a work like Noureddin, Son of Iran or Da, students meet the author or narrator. This live interaction brings the memoir out from the "book page" and transforms it into a social and academic experience.

In other cases, university theses and dissertations have been written focusing on these memoirs, ranging from analyzing the language and narrative style to examining their sociological or psychological dimensions. This trend shows that Sacred Defense memoirs are not only a tool for transmitting experience but also pave the way for extensive interdisciplinary research.

Challenges and Shortcomings

Despite all the potential, integrating Sacred Defense memoirs into the educational system of schools and universities is not without difficulties. Although valuable, these books face obstacles and shortcomings in the educational process that need attention:

Language and Narrative Style:

Many memoirs are written with lengthy prose and abundant detail. For high school teenagers, this style can sometimes be tedious and unappealing, discouraging them from continuing to read. Conversely, some books are written with excessive simplification, lacking the necessary analytical depth for university students. In other words, the suitability of the text for the audience is not well observed, preventing the books from achieving their desired impact. For instance, books like Noureddin, Son of Iran are difficult for some teenagers due to their detailed narrative, while books like Those Twenty-Three People tend not to lead to deep analysis at the university level because of their conciseness.

Lack of a Codified Educational Framework:

One of the main problems is that standard educational packages and teaching guides based on Sacred Defense memoirs have not yet been designed. Most usage depends on the personal initiative of teachers and professors and lacks systematic educational structure. The absence of a clear guide means one teacher might utilize these books effectively while another only makes a passing reference. This inconsistency reduces efficiency and weakens the position of memoirs in formal education.

Superficial Reading and Instrumental Use:

Many students, or even university students, skim through memoir books only to participate in reading competitions or to pass a course unit. In this case, reading memoirs becomes a superficial and formal activity, without leaving a deep impact on their thoughts and character. This type of approach essentially defeats the main purpose of memoirs, which is to transmit experience and foster a human understanding of the war.

Propagandistic View and Reduced Appeal:

One major pitfall is the purely propagandistic view of memoirs. When these works are presented solely as tools for promoting certain values, rather than as human and historical texts, young audiences develop psychological resistance. Experience has shown that if today's student feels a book is being "imposed" on them, they subconsciously oppose it. Consequently, the inherent value and true content of the books are ignored.

Lack of an Interdisciplinary Perspective:

Often, memoirs are taught and studied only within the framework of literature or history, while their potential extends far beyond. In psychology, veterans' memoirs can be used to analyze resilience; in political science, commanders' memoirs are living examples of crisis decision-making; in sociology, the memoirs of women combatants and families of martyrs reveal their social roles. Neglecting this interdisciplinary view limits the scope of using these works.

Lack of Training in Critique and Analysis Methods:

In many cases, students only read the text without learning the skills to critique and analyze it. The absence of methodical training leads to these works being either completely venerated or completely dismissed, whereas an analytical approach could reveal both the strengths and weaknesses of the narratives.

Generational Gap and Linguistic Alienation:

Some memoirs are written in a language that is not very familiar or tangible for the new generation. Specific front-line terminology, cultural references from the 1980s, or even the traditional storytelling style may seem foreign to today's youth. If this linguistic gap is not bridged, the books will fail to establish the necessary emotional and intellectual connection with the new generation.

Conclusion: From Narrative to Identity Formation

Sacred Defense memoir books are not merely reports from the past; they are living, current, and dynamic texts that can still inspire and guide today. These works not only recount the events of the war but also convey human experience, decision-making, resilience, creativity, and ethical and social values.

In schools, Sacred Defense memoirs can introduce teenagers to heroes their own age. When a student reads Da, they experience the war through the eyes of a teenage girl (from her fear and worry for her family to her courage and steadfastness in critical situations). This experience makes history tangible and human for adolescents, strengthening their national and religious identity.

In universities, these books function beyond mere storytelling, providing a platform for critical analysis, scientific research, and artistic production. By studying books like The Left-Behind Foot, a student becomes familiar with the psychological, social, and political dimensions of captivity and war, and can use it for interdisciplinary research in psychology, sociology, and political science. Furthermore, these works inspire new artistic projects, screenplays, documentaries, and stories because they convey a real and living human experience to the audience.

These books demonstrate that history is not merely a collection of events; it is the narrative of real people's lives and their decisions, which can offer practical and moral lessons. Reading Sacred Defense memoirs, whether in school or university, confronts students with concepts like courage, solidarity, resilience, and social responsibility, inviting them to reflect on human and social values.

For the future, it is essential to take the following steps:

     Developing Educational Packages Based on Memoirs: The educational system should design standard guides and codified lesson plans so that teachers and professors can purposefully use Sacred Defense memoirs in the classroom. These packages should include interdisciplinary analyses, critical questions, and practical activities.

Holding Interdisciplinary Workshops in Universities: Students should have the opportunity to study war memoirs from various angles: psychology, sociology, political science, literature, and art. These workshops can enhance students' analytical skills, research capabilities, and artistic creativity, and sharpen their critical perspective on historical sources.

Incorporating Narratives of Women, Children, and Minorities: To present a more comprehensive picture of the war, the memoirs of less-visible groups should be included in education. The experiences of women combatants, children present in war zones, and social minorities illuminate new dimensions of the social and cultural life during the Sacred Defense era.

If this path is followed with careful planning, Sacred Defense memoirs will not only keep the country's historical memory alive but will also serve as a guiding light for the future of generations. These works can steer classrooms away from merely transmitting information and towards "identity formation" and "future-building," a place where students, by understanding history and possessing analytical skills and social insight, are capable of shaping a better future.

Ultimately, Sacred Defense memoirs, as educational and cultural tools, are a bridge between the past, present, and future; a bridge that can connect today's generation with their values, experiences, and collective identity, while simultaneously preparing them to face individual and collective challenges. These narratives, alive and current, will remain a source of inspiration and guidance for the human, social, and cultural development of future generations.