Educational Sciences, Psychology, Behavioral Sciences and Physical Education
A.A. Hedayati; M. Farajollahi; N. Fazeli; M.R. Sarmadi
Abstract
Open education, in light of an amazing technological development, has transformed the educational system with changes in "educational culture" and an emphasis on the "learner-centered" principle. Since this has not been taken into account in Iran's educational system, the present article critically examines ...
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Open education, in light of an amazing technological development, has transformed the educational system with changes in "educational culture" and an emphasis on the "learner-centered" principle. Since this has not been taken into account in Iran's educational system, the present article critically examines the issue of imperfect construction of an open education system in Iran. To analyze the issue historically, a genealogical method propounded by Foucault has been applied. Genealogy explains the evolution of historical moments in their internal power relations, as Foucault says: it is a discourse which intertwines power and knowledge. The "genealogical analysis" refers to an epistemological strategy formed in various domains of history, political and social sciences. To explain the aforementioned problem, we need to focus on both traditional and modern education discourses in the discursive space of open education. In response to the main question of the article i.e., what could have caused the imperfectness of open education in contemporary Iran? The findings indicate that "neglect to scientific software and discursive aspects", which followed the dominance of instrumental scientific view; "immature understanding of open education" which reduced it to complementary education and "bureaucratic relations" which are in conflict with the democratic character of post-modern education, have all led to the "imperfectness of open education" which has deepened the challenge of the alienation of "science" from culture and society.
Cultural Studies
A. Ravadrad; M. Mousavi Haghshenas
Abstract
With a comparative discourse analysis of three important museums, this article tries to show the relationship between the institution of power and the institution of museum in Iran. The research question is whether or not Iranian museums on different historical topics and periods receive equal attention ...
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With a comparative discourse analysis of three important museums, this article tries to show the relationship between the institution of power and the institution of museum in Iran. The research question is whether or not Iranian museums on different historical topics and periods receive equal attention from the power institution, today. The method of discourse analysis is based on Foucault’s concept of power as well as a description of Gillian Rose on this theory. This research is about power apparatuses and institutional technologies in three important museums i.e., The Museum of Ancient Iran, The Islamic Museum, and The National Museum of the Islamic Revolution and Holy Defense Museum. For that matter, a second type of the discourse analysis has been used that focuses more on institutions, their related procedures, and how content is produced. Findings from field surveys of museums indicate significant differences in the apparatus and institutional technologies being used there. The results show that The National Museum of the Islamic Revolution and Holy Defense Museum articulates the discourse of its trustees such as anti-arrogance, resistance, and progress in comparison with others that are equipped with the most diverse, advanced, and attractive designs, space, displaying technologies, and facilities. The Islamic Museum, by the way has its own importance for authorities because of its post-Islamic Iran cultural manifestations compared to The Museum of Ancient Iran.
Sociology
M. Azadbakht; A. Fahimiar; M.R. Tajik
Abstract
Color in its essence is not only color but a symbol of language, message, significance, art, power, resistance, and politics. In other words, color is a visual, communicative, and perceptual element that can stimulate or alleviate people's emotions and inner self, and change and direct their speeches ...
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Color in its essence is not only color but a symbol of language, message, significance, art, power, resistance, and politics. In other words, color is a visual, communicative, and perceptual element that can stimulate or alleviate people's emotions and inner self, and change and direct their speeches and behavior. In the teachings of religions as well as intellectual and political discourses, color has been used as a symbol or distinguishing factor, and hence, different and conflicting representations and readings of color and its linguistic and transcendental meanings have been presented. Among these abundant implications, the current paper through an analytical approach and using library resources focuses itself on the political implication of color, and taking into account the relations of color and politics as a hypothesis seeks to prove or disapprove the same with the notion that: Every colorlessness, when comes into contact with a symbolic or real color, becomes a political matter (with an essence of praise or antagonism). This article has two hidden goals: First, to cross the line of traditional definitions of politics and political matter, and design politics as an art, and vice versa (theoretical goal), and second, to acquaint political activists with a different language of politics, which can play a role both as the language of power and the language of resistance in our society today (practical goal).
Sayyed Bashir Hosseini; Mokhtar Jafari
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to address the communication discourse of Iranian historical – religious TV series based on the decoding of Sunnis and it is determined to analyze the discourse of the most important historical – religious TV series of IRIB directed by Davoud Mirbagheri from ...
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The purpose of this article is to address the communication discourse of Iranian historical – religious TV series based on the decoding of Sunnis and it is determined to analyze the discourse of the most important historical – religious TV series of IRIB directed by Davoud Mirbagheri from the perspective of Sunnis. Through realizing rights of religious minorities of religious TV programs it addresses the two fundamental principles of "unity" and "export of revolution discourse" consistent with "national interest" and adherence to the Constitution. This article aims to answer the question: what are the consequences of non-compliance with these two principles in the production and distribution of historical – religious TV series contents? The methodology of this study is text and hypertext discourse analysis that in the conclusion using inductive scenario building models, it summarizes and provides solution. Case studies of the present study include three works directed by Davoud Mirbagheri i.e. Imam Ali, Ray passenger and Mokhtarnameh historical – religious TV series. The applied theories in the research include use and gratification approach and encoding-decoding model by Stuart Hall. Results of this study support the notion that these series are produced by textual and hyper textual decoding, unhappiness, the absence of media and audience’s self-censorship and thus isolation, negotiation and conflict. Therefore, with emphasis on national identity, development of the series of characters and historical periods agreed by Shiite and Sunnis and developing religious series regardless of denomination and adherence to ethical principles, it is possible take steps to avoid problems.
Mahdi Montazer Ghaem; Zohre Alikhani
Abstract
Considering perennial relation of the masses with concepts of determinism and free will, the intrinsic importance of these concepts in the area of religion, as well as regarding the ability of media in constructing the masses’ narrative of existence and also taking into account relations between ...
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Considering perennial relation of the masses with concepts of determinism and free will, the intrinsic importance of these concepts in the area of religion, as well as regarding the ability of media in constructing the masses’ narrative of existence and also taking into account relations between religion, state and television in Iran, this study seeks to answer the question raised in the sample case study of a religious serial concerning representation of free will to its audiences. Hence, a brief introduction of the concept in Islamic thought and its implications has offered at first, to recognize the implied conflict between absolute determinism and absolute discretion in the practical part of this research. Adopting representational theory approach, we have used a combination of discourse analysis approaches and Greimas actantial model to analyze the serial dialogs about free will and underlying structure of activism, respectively. In this study we have shown that the series inspires deterministic-oriented discourse, by drawing actors’ charts of opening and final sequences as well as their schematic diagram. Type of narrative sequences and activity pattern also are deterministic, and the series is based on retributive nature of difficulties and reward-oriented character of pleasures. Two signifiers of fatalism and dreamful are attracted in its discourse area and influencing of social structures is rejected.
Jamal Mohammadi; Marysm karimi
Abstract
This research is an attempt to study the interpretations and decodings of a soap opera called Faseleha by women of Elam. The theoretical approach of this research is that which has been developed in cultural studies to study television audiences. The main question is this: which ideas and values are ...
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This research is an attempt to study the interpretations and decodings of a soap opera called Faseleha by women of Elam. The theoretical approach of this research is that which has been developed in cultural studies to study television audiences. The main question is this: which ideas and values are dominant and taken for granted in Faseleha, and how do audiences (here, women of Elam) interpret and decode the preferred reading of the text and which discourses are available for them and inform them in this process. In the first section, we have used semiology to to illuminate the preferred reading of the text and, in the second section, we have studied women readings by way of focused group interview. The findings showed that the audiences read Faseleha very differently and actively, they are not passive consumers.
Hossein Pirnajmoddin; Seyyed Mohammad Marandi; Mohamadreza Adeli
Abstract
This paper addresses the representations of the Muslim world, especially Iran, in Western media. These representations are traced back in orientalist discourse, one through which ‘knowledge’ is produced about the East which empowers the West to justify and maintain its dominance over its ...
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This paper addresses the representations of the Muslim world, especially Iran, in Western media. These representations are traced back in orientalist discourse, one through which ‘knowledge’ is produced about the East which empowers the West to justify and maintain its dominance over its Eastern Other. The writers first discuss the nature and functions of representation and proceed to examine some of the aspects and strategies of the Western media approach to the Muslim world in general and Iran in particular. The aim is to shed some light on the discursive functions and formations involved here. The need to address such pressing issues in order to create a more balanced and rational atmosphere necessary for a fruitful dialogue between nations and cultures is emphasized.
Hossein Mirzaei; Amin Parvin
Abstract
Studying “Otherness” and “Representation of Other” in cultural studies especially in Birmingham Cultural Studies School, has been a significant subject of Study and has been used for understanding self, society and the self culture. The “Oriental Studies” of Edward ...
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Studying “Otherness” and “Representation of Other” in cultural studies especially in Birmingham Cultural Studies School, has been a significant subject of Study and has been used for understanding self, society and the self culture. The “Oriental Studies” of Edward Saied, “The West and the Rest” of “Stuart Hall”, are the two salient works of this subject. The culture industries and human communications are the most effective issues in approach formation toward west. In this sense, we could consider the first generation of Iranians who traveled to west, as the first generation who represented “the other” in Iran. The aim of this article is to study representation of west in itinerary of Iranians who traveled to west during constitution revolution era. Thus, Rezaqoli Mirza, Haj Sayyah, Emad Alsanltaneh, Mirza Saleh Shirazi`s itineraries are the cases of this study. The aim question of this article is that how west has been represented in these itineraries? The hypothesis is that west, more than anything else is a historical-cultural construct. In order to explain theoretically the idea of “Otherization”, Dreda`s Deconstruction, Barthes`s theory of text, inter-textuality of Cristova, Lakan`s Psychoanalysis, Saussure and Bakhtin`s Linguistics, discourse of Foucault, Lakla and Moufe and Representation of Hall will be used. The texts of these itineraries are analyzed by Representation-Discourse`s Method. The mechanisms of stereotyping like naturalization, fetishism, deny and diminishing the deference, are used for analysis in this article.
Jamal Mohammadi
Abstract
This research is an attempt to explain how audiences read and decode the dominant or preferred reading of television soap operas ( here, one of them named : Parvaz Dar Hobab ). The main problem of this research is that in what way TV soap operas prefer or make dominant some meanings, ideas and values ...
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This research is an attempt to explain how audiences read and decode the dominant or preferred reading of television soap operas ( here, one of them named : Parvaz Dar Hobab ). The main problem of this research is that in what way TV soap operas prefer or make dominant some meanings, ideas and values and how audiences interpret and decode these meanings and ideas and values. From this viewpoint, a soap opera is an articulation constructed of different, and sometimes contrast, elements which are unified around a nodal point. In other words, a television soap opera is an articulatory discourse which is constructed through some technical, social and ideological codes by hegemonic system. In a TV soap opera, as a discourse, some ideas and meanings are preferred over the others. The question is that how social subjects, who have an objective position in the social structure, read and decode these dominant ideas and meanings? In this research, in the first part we have used the semilogical- structuralist method to explain the preferred reading of TV soap operas, and in the second part we used focused group interview to study women readings. To mention one of the conclusions of this research, we can say that this soap opera attempts to hide that social nihilism which is the main factor of addiction. Most of the audiences have an oppositional reading of this problem.
