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T'aarof, Ta'arof, or Tarof ((ペルシア語:تعارف)) is a Persian form of civility emphasizing both deference and social rank, similar to the Chinese art of etiquette, limao. The term encompasses a range of social behaviours, from a man displaying etiquette by opening the door for a woman, to a group of colleagues standing on ceremony in front of a door that can permit the entry of only one at time, earnestly ''imploring'' the most senior to break the deadlock. Other cases of taarof consist of posing false invitations and promising future services or deeds to primarily strangers or distant relatives and they are expected not to take the offer and keep declining it. However, the closer two people get in a relationship, the less taarof appears in their behavior towards one another. The prevalence of taarof often gives rise to different styles of negotiation than one would see in a non-Iranian culture. For example, a worker negotiating a salary might begin with a eulogy of the employer, followed by a lengthy bargaining session consisting entirely of indirect, polite language – both parties are expected to understand the ''implied'' topic of discussion. It is quite common for an Iranian worker (even one employed in an Iranian neighborhood within Europe) to work unpaid for a week or two before the issue of wages is finally broached. Likewise, a shopkeeper may initially refuse to quote a price for an item, ''suggesting'' that it is worthless ("ghaabel nadaareh"). T'aarof obliges the customer to insist on paying, possibly several times (3 times), before a shopkeeper finally quotes a price and real negotiation can begin. Taarof also governs the rules of hospitality: a host is obliged to offer anything a guest might want, and a guest is equally obliged to refuse it. This ritual may repeat itself several times (3 times) before the host and guest finally determine whether the host's offer and the guest's refusal are real or simply polite. It is possible to ask someone not to t'aarof ("t'aarof nakonid"), but that raises new difficulties, since the request itself might be a devious type of t'aarof. At times, taarof can lead to one performing a task that one does not want to perform. For instance, if one friend offers a ride to another friend only because they are being polite, they may become stuck in the situation if the friend agrees to get the ride. Of course if one was going by the rules of taarof, one would refuse the offer many times before accepting. It is a way of denying your will to please your counterpart, although sometimes the will is only denied because of the custom and not just to please the counterpart. But there are situations where taarof persist upon a request to make the counterpart genuinely satisfied. Taarof may cause misunderstandings between both parties and can be a source for awkward situations in a social setting. ==History== Some political theorists have argued that during the period of serfdom, at princely courts, taarof regulated diplomatic discourse. It involved a sharp curbing of one's comportment, speech, and action to make people, honour, and prestige calculable as instruments for political advancement. According to D. M. Rejali, for the feudal elite the ornamentation of speech symbolises prestige. With the advent of capitalism and its scientific paradigm, communication became more precise and the formality of t'aarof a hindrance in the pursuit for rapid capital accumulation.〔D M Rejali, "Torture & Modernity: Self, Society, and the State in Modern Iran". An exception would be the Japanese Tea Ceremony, which seems to have adapted well to modern requirements (see MT issue no 1).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Taarof」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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