SOCIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF ART AND LITERATURE
Year:2011 | Volume:3 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

In this research paper, we applied rituals of social drama processes to find out symbols, decoding and signs in the Manegh-al-tair. In our analysis we discovered that birds, instead of humans, are acting as players in the social stage. Each of these birds possesses some particular characteristics and social statuses, which are attributed to the humans who lived in the Attar time (age).To offer more clarification on the nature of our analysis it should be noted that most of the cultural, social and historical issues of the nations appear in their literary works. Therefore narrative analysis is used as an approach for studying semiology and unraveling texts in social sciences researches. Taking literature as a social product, its study would generate an understanding about the social and cultural structures of society, as well as the hidden angles and dark traits of the people’s lives. This type of research which refers to literary texts in social sciences became widespread using narrative approach consideration, and the objective was to arrive at semiology as a method of study.We tried to analyze events and actions stories to access story’s basic information regarding the society and its role player actors. In the processes of social actors discourse the main subject of the story, is separation, social groups' conflict, as well as the distance of Attar's ideal society from that of real society.In fact the actors of this narration tried to reach the phoenix (Simorgh) court, to gain their desires; accordingly they had to pass seven difficult stages to find out the solutions for the conundrum. And through suffering, they wanted to compensate for the social separation and conjunction of the society.The methodology of this research rests upon the secondary sources i.e. Mantegh-al-tair book and the other researches investigation about the Attar.The aim of this research is to discover codes, signs and symbols as effective factors within the meaning structure as well as the narrative in order to understand events and rites. This will help us to reconstruct the social thought of Attar era.We offer textual analysis and searching the relationship between social facts and utopian affairs and ever decoding of symbols and signs as our research strategy for studying culture. Access to social phenomenon especially human one is the essential element for the reconstruction of the society.Theoretical consideration for the present research is based on structural narrative approach. In this method, we look for the narrative structure and the signs relations within the texts. We will use Victor Turner theory to explain the processes, signs and rites. Turner believed that rites contain actions, events, subjects which possess ambiguous boundaries and almost they are transited through verbal traditions.The collected data indicate that humans possess purity nature, while the impact of the social problem acts as an obstacle to improve humans. Based on this criterion, societies face critical situations. According to Attar’s opinions society's influences causes individuals to develop different characteristics. Based on this view Attar selects some of the birds each of which having particular characteristics that make them different from the other.Attar maintains humans are dealers and arithmetician beings, who have tendencies toward static situation. Therefore at the time when he introduces them as birds, they show no dynamic characters. In fact actors of this story look for their interests. The result of this type of thinking is that from among thousands of birds only a small numbers accept to travel and visit phoenix. This small group possesses extraordinary stamina and offers sacrifices so to gain compensations to the benefit of their society. This is the confronted liminial situation.Personal typology of actors is divided to: economist actors introvert one’s, religious, and actors with no self-reliance, and without feeling responsibility. Attar claims that these characteristics are causes of the society’s critics.

The Islamic period of the Iranian History suggests that the development of the Shiite art is an outcome of a continuous interaction and struggle between the political systems dominated in Iran and the Shiite beliefs system. Historically, the situation of the Shiite, as a resistance movement, has gradually changed to an established religion with its own theology. In other words, when the Shiite peoples were struggling to acquire the political legitimacy, they were not allowed to cite the names of the Shiite Imams anywhere except their mosques and mostly in inscriptions. However, when their position changed (for example in the Timurid period), they tried to make rational and narrative arguments and reveal their beliefs in the creative forms. Thus, the Shiite art has been a kind of resistant art and has been able to use even limited and smallest spaces for its own interests. The political domination of the Sunni religion in most parts of Iran has hindered the expression of the Shiite elements in art forms. This is especially the case in the Mongol period. However, these elements gradually appeared in creative works. Thus, Since the Illkhanian (Mongol successors), especially in the Timurid and Safavid period, we can see the presence of the Shiite thought and its intellectual arguments in the fine arts, especially in architecture and inscriptions. Accordingly, the main difference between the Shiite and Sunni mosques is not in the style or structure, but in the religious elements represented in the inscriptions. It seems that the impacts of social isolation or domination of the Shea in different periods of the Iranian history is evident in the art works of these religious groups. Therefore, the Shiite art is a reflection of the Shea position in political structure of the Iranian society and its relation to the Sunni religion. On the other side, it should be noted that the legends, myths and beliefs of the Iranian people and the Shiite beliefs are intermingled. Examples of this combination can be found in the popular paintings of holy shrines of Shiite Imams sons, Taziye, and tea houses. In fact, before the Safavid period the Shiite resistance in architecture is evident, but after that period, both fine and popular arts are full of Shiite religious elements. These latter popular art forms are richer and more creative than the former ones.

We have been witnessing a realistic approach in figurative painting in Iran, between art student and graduate in the recent years. This approach has a tendency towards representing and applying old master skills. This type of painting uses a representational language method, which can simplify connection with addressee of art, and is serving expression of social, individual and internal concepts which introduces new lines of thoughts to Iranian society. Also it seems this movement is in opposition to both current educational systems in the field of art and to dominant modernism. This is taking place through collegiate and intellectuals in artistic cliques.Although this group of painters is completely familiar with modern art and its concepts, but prefers a different manner of working art. Thus, perhaps the main property of this artistic trend is its contextuality because that is obviously related to community and social context of its production.This study examines the rise of contemporary realist painting in Iran during the period of 1997 to 2010. There are certain questions involved here as follows: What were the historical context that promoted this new approach in Iran and created the necessary social background and resources for production and development of it? What factors determined its form and content? To identify and analyze the key aspects of the historical contexts in which this new painting was formed, this research applies an inter-disciplinary approach, by constructing an analytical model based on abstract theories developed in sociology of culture and art, cultural studies, and discourse analysis.This essay will address its questions about effective factors that form contemporary realistic painting in Iran, and will introduce the general predisposal factors for artistic and cultural turn in aforesaid period. We will use the frame of cultural sociology and the theories of Robert Wuthnow as an overall view to address how impressible is the emergence of this artistic trend. This trend, the paper claims, has resulted from changes within government structures and politics, economy, class attitudes, educational system and cultural institutions, and the dominant discourses in social and political spaces and in mental bases, value system and in moral order of Iranian society.We intend to specify the circumstances and quality of effecting units of community in overall scale and manner of these influences. This will help us to analyze human interaction, discursive arguments, content of cultural and artistic productions and here art works as text in detailed scale. And finally this will help us to understand theirs dialectic relationship with structures in overall scale. This essay uses Norman Fairclough's, Ernesto Laclau's and Chantal Mouffe's discourse analysis methodological model. Thereby it astutely studies social and cultural conditions and changes in this period.This analysis will suggest a theoretical model while uncertain in discourse order, the availability of resources and chains of interaction are important, the form and content of the artworks are determined by factors such as its “social horizon” and the “existing discursive context” and “discourse contestation in the field of painting”. Through considering artworks produced in this artistic approach, this study analyzes discursive context of society and its relation with current discourses in the field of painting. Therefore it explains the ways, methods and mechanism through which the mentioned social condition will offer possibility for creation and production of art during 1997-2010 in Iran. In the end, this paper discusses the dialectic relationship between art and social structure.

This paper is an attempt to indicate how the educated audience in the US re-reads and interprets the anti–Islam movies produced by Hollywood. We will use the reception approach of Gadamer along with Edward Saeed's Orientalism approach to offer a theoretical synthesis that includes concepts such as 1- lived experience, 2- intercultural communication and 3- digital literacy among American audience. Our theoretical claim is that these three concepts are elements that enable the audience to take position when encountering the anti-Islam content of some Hollywood movies. We organized our research around provision of answer for two hypotheses: 1- the more the knowledge of the audience increases in the field of media effects, the less tendency they show towards accepting media messages, and; 2- the more the lived-experience of the American educated with Muslim culture is, the less effective the anti-Islam movies' propaganda against Muslims would be.Some of the findings, although not capable of being generalized, indicate that media effect only takes place in some particular circumstances. The audience tries to increase his/her digital literacy, their lived experience with Muslims and their intercultural experiences, so they come up with interpretations about the content of Hollywood movies that would create different meaning for them compared to the meaning intended by the producers of the anti-Islam movies. The results of our research also indicate that Hollywood is not considered by the American educated audience as a legitimate and reliable source that would offer them any knowledge about Muslims and/or Islam.If there should be any relationship between the audiences' lived experience and movies' effects on them, then our findings indicate that there are two groups of audience as follows:1- There are people who have lived-experience in Muslims' world. Their characteristics usually consist of; their tendency to resist against meaning of the movies, their inclination to connect with Muslims, their objection to chauvinism and rejecting religious discrimination. Members of this group reject most of the anti-Islam movies' messages except some elements. These elements include religious ceremonies, religious rituals of the Muslims and some cultural elements of the Muslims. They tend to criticize the content of the movies as being discursive. They believe these movies try to introduce Muslims as negative and dangerous individuals. They showed a high tendency towards changing modes of representing Muslims in movies and providing a more realistic picture of the Muslims.2- There are people who have not had lived-experience in Muslims' world. The major characteristics of this group rely on the fact that its members perform chauvinistic tendencies, and they fail to show any resistance against content of the anti-Islam movies. They, in fact, believe the anti-Islam movies contribute to consolidation of patriotic ideas of the American society. Also they are very loyal to American cinema and show no tendency towards establishing contacts with the Muslims. The follow the dominant discourse of the movies which is based on representing Muslims as negative characters. The paper's approach can be applied to similar situations where the discrepancy between text and the audience's reading style creates controversies.

This article aims at indicating how the process of production and reproduction of urban spaces in Tehran can be understood through reading the social novels produced during the Reza Pahlavi era (1300-1320). It is evident to us that urbanization and novel writing are closely intertwined. 'City' characterized as the carrier of modernity is more and more is taking shape based on the distinction between public and private spheres. Therefore, reporting on everyday life of the people who live in city space requires one to pay attention to a medium that has the capacity of reflecting it. Theoretically we have come to the conclusion that such medium is novel. In other words, people's everyday life in Tehran is reflected in that the social novels produced in that period. Among many novels of this period some are considered as more important in light of their references to urban spheres. They include novels such as “Tehrane Makhoof” written in 1301 and its second volume “Yadegare Yek Shab” produced in 1305 Iranian Calendar both by Moshfegh Kazemi, and “Tafrihaate Shab” published in 1311 Iranian Calendar by Mohammed Masoud and “Ziba” published in 1312 Iranian Calendar by Mohammed Hejazi.The above mentioned novels are analyzed here using a qualitative content analysis with special reference to Lefwebr’s ideas. Henry Lefwebr has established the theory of “social reproduction of space” based on synthesizing Marx’s 'Dialectical Materialism', Hegel’s 'Consciousness' and Niche’s 'Language and Power'. Lefwebr offers a new vision on space, time and the relationships between these two in urban society in companion with the criticism of the inactive actor in the sphere of everyday life. In his view space is divided into three kinds of physical (natural), subjective and social one. 'Space' is basically a social entity which is produced and reproduced in each period of time in accordance with the demands of time and social, political and economic conditions. 'Space' is also a process; a dialectical process between the subjective and the objective matters that is discernible through the act of individuals, or as Lefwebr would say, between the spatial action and the spatialized body. One of Lefwebr’s problems has been to relate subject and object, that is why he has presented triads in order to relate these two, something that contributes formation of the theory of social reproduction of space. The first group of such triads includes representational spaces, spatial practices and space of representations.In terms of methodological considerations we approach the sampling unit in our study based on the unified text (Holesty, 1373) which includes the three before-mentioned novels. We study the whole texts as our unit of observation. In order to determine the recording unit (analysis unit) and in light of the hypotheses and research goals, three themes are firstly determined and then their theoretical and practical definitions are presented. These include 1- rhythms 2- production of sphere and 3- exchange value and consumption value.Using Lefwebrian concepts and determining the themes of rhythms, production of sphere, exchange value and consumption value, it was concluded that almost none of people in Tehran are active in production and reproduction of urban spaces and only a small strata of educated, westernized and modern people have reproduced the urban space in accordance with the contradictions of modernity. This is while the state, in accordance with its dominated ideology, has produced and reproduced these urban spaces for the purpose of strengthening its own power. Our findings related to analyzing the “cyclic rhythm” and “linear rhythm” shows that the city of Tehran has been in the starting point of its confrontation with modernity in that period.

The author of the novel titled "Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash" uses the method of post-modernity literary style to write an up throwing and effective work about the Iranian novel. Some of these methods are as follows:1- Incoherence: by jumping from one issue to another, the postmodern author destroys the reasonable coherence of various parts of the novel. Barahani in novel of Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash, changes the direction of the novel narrative from one subject to another.2- Indeterminacy: indeterminacy is seen throughout the postmodern novels especially towards the end of the novel. Usually the author suggests different ways to end the novel and asks the reader to select one of them. Barahani also uses this method to create an open ended novel.3- Timeless: in the postmodern novel, there is not a linear time and the character during the novel, travels from one time to another. The same pattern happens in "Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash" as the continuity of linear time is missing.4- meta-fiction: meta-fiction is a technique that clears the methods of novel writing in order to shows its artificial content to the reader. The author in some parts of the novel of Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash, also employs such artificiality.5- The death of the author: in the postmodern novel, the author is absence, something that provides the possibility for the reader to develop a perception of himself. This is turn creates the text in which the reader is the subject of constructing meaning. Barahani presents directly the theory of the death of the author and live of text in part of the novel of Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash.6- Polyphonic: against the realistic novels in which the omniscient forms the fate of the characters, whereas in post- modern novels, the voice of the author is not the only voice that is heard from the text. Accordingly the polyphonic is emphasized in postmodern novels. Barahani also in his the novel of Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash uses this post- modernism method. In some sections of this novel, the character is placed in front of his author.7- Intertextuality: by intertextuality we refer to a text in which the author imports the characters of the other novels in his work and restructures them and forces the reader to a situation of doubt about the characters. In the novel of Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash, Azadeh as the main character is not in the center of the subject and is shown as a scrappy manner.8- Parody: parody is fool imitation from the style and method of the other texts. In the state of parody, the author uses the irony to quizzes every concept in another work. Barahani also uses this model in the novel of Azadeh khanom va nevisandeash to quizzes the elements of the classic novels like plot, design and characterization.The aim of producing such novel was not to compose a novel based on the known common literary norms. The rationale behind rather was to write the story of writing as written before the reader. This novel is a work of deconstructionism and multi-segmentation, in which different sections lack linear sequence and authors of this paper attempt to investigate the post modernism factors in this novel.

Abolghasem Payandeh owes much of his fame to his valuable translation of The Holy Quran as well as his journalistic works. As an Isfahani story-telling writer, however, he has not been accounted for in the literary history of Iran. His stories mainly follow the structure of the writings of the past and are somehow apart from the modern storytelling experience. The settings of his stories usually are weak and ineffective, except some few examples. The stories are mainly character-based and their themes are usually linked to the relationships among human beings.To understand the relationship between social issues and literature has always been a concern of many social scientists. The literary work in sociology of literature is often looked at with the assumption that the society and the artist have an unbreakable relationship. A researcher of the very social issues of the literature, however, tries to organize the main concerns and thoughts of the writer by considering the literary work as the main part. Accordingly, the work is studied as a reaction of the writer’s personality to the society who is inference by his/her surroundings. That is how the point of view of the creator of the work is explained by researchers of the sociology of literature. This explanation takes place based on the fact that the writer is considered to be affected one way or another, by the environment in which he lives, and by the surroundings by which he/she is inspired. By studying the meaning and message of the literary works the place of the writer will be more explicitly viewed. Payandeh as a writer, who knows this point well, has tried to criticize the leading pains and problems of the society of Iran. He demonstrates the bitter part of the life of the people of his era, and at the same time tries to conceal them by the morals he mentions and by his comic way of writing. Using a comic tone in his short stories, he has written the important social issues of the society in which he lived in. By employing all these modes of organizing his story-telling techniques, he has tried to be a responsible writer and a social peace maker.In this paper we have tried to categorize the leading social beliefs and thoughts of Payandeh, using the second method, which is to focus on analyzing the reflection of social issues in the literary work. These social issues would include: criticizing the common beliefs, criticizing the present condition of instruction, being critical of the moral corruption of the effective parts of the society, usury, venality, the improper status of the organizations in performing the expected matters, poverty and the social place of women between the years 1330 and 1350. At the end of the paper, we will discuss the social comedy as an important and main part of the short stories written by Payandeh. Social comedy has had a noticeable impact on bringing the element of effectiveness in modes of reflecting social events in his works.