Ta'ziyeh and its role in propaganda and religious communication of Iranian people

Master's Thesis in Publicity and Cultural Communication

Abstract:

Taziyah is a prominent example of Iranian performance art, whose traces can still be seen in various provinces from the northernmost cities of Khorasan and Azerbaijan to the southernmost cities of Sistan and Ahvaz, from the desert to the edges of Zagros and Alborz, and from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, during the days of Muharram. which somehow borrowed from all the arts. In addition to religious rites, arts such as drama, literature, music and visual arts can also be observed in Ta'ziyeh. In this research, Ta'ziyeh as one of the most authentic and long-standing Islamic arts in the framework of communication arts has been investigated and studied, and the role of acting, performance venue, clothing, animals, accessories, music, and direction of Ta'ziyeh has been discussed, and the influence of this traditional performing art in modern advertising and communication has been investigated so that it can provide its own role in the age of communication and in today's Islamic Iranian society once again.

In this research, combined methods of information gathering such as interviews, observations, oral culture in interviews, theater and visual culture have been used and analyzed and interpreted so that ta'ziyeh as a multi-layered and multifaceted art and mixed with all kinds of arts, each of which owes some kind of literature, can, by passing to its role in the propagation and religious communication of this border and landscape, its presence. provide in the mind of the audience.

Keywords: Ta'ziyeh, religious propaganda, religious communication, Iranian people

Introduction

Communications and information are an important tool for decision-making, human interaction, identification, giving direction to thoughts and ideas, and a tool for domination, and the role of traditional ritual arts, including lasting and original art such as Ta'ziyeh, which is considered an Iranian Islamic art of communication. The reason for the depth of the content and its impact on the audience is that it can affect the thoughts, mind, soul and even the body of the viewer, and in the meantime, the ta'zieh reciter is evident as if he is a living mass communication tool.

With the emergence of urban life in the 20th century and the emergence of visual arts and visual media such as cinema and television, the taste of the people of this land has changed, and traditional arts, including ta'zieh, have been forced to retreat and for their survival, their artistic form and content have changed. Media, cinema and modern theater have found that ta'ziyeh also finds its way in the art of theater and cinema in the new era. This art did not come to Iran from Arabia and Iraq, which is the origin of the religion of Islam, nor from Ferangistan, Iran is the only Islamic country that created Ta'zieh show on a global scale.

In creating Ta'zieh and displaying the events of Karbala and the hadith of the martyrs' sufferings, the Iranian Shia considered the tradition of the ancient Iranian ritual shows and the way of performing their rites and rituals and some of the mythological and epic elements that make up the ritual shows. And.

Taziya literally means to express sympathy, mourning and condolence (Shahidi, 1380: p. 62). But as a form of performance, he mentioned the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS) in the days of Muharram, and during its evolution, the representation of the siege and killing of the Karbala desert has been its main axis and has never lost its religious nature. May it be.

The display of misfortunes in reciting Ta'zieh creates such excitement and uproar in the believers that it breaks their bonds with worldly life and takes them to the sacred space full of mystery which is the manifestation of the souls of saints and ancestors.

Reciting Ta'zieh was formed in the direction of the mosque and the pulpit and away from the pen and action and influence of the official religious system of Iran among the masses of people.

Reciting prayers has been able to influence the people of traditional religious societies of the past and the religious groups of today's traditionalism more than any other form of religious rites and rituals. By showing the events of Karbala in the religious and collective psyche, Ta'zieh singers arouse the public against the sad events of Karbala, and in this way they keep the philosophy of seeking justice and self-sacrifice of the epic martyrs of Shiite history as the best example in their minds and hearts.

Taziyah (simulation) is a ritual drama, a rhymed and musical drama that arose from the mourning of the Iranian Shiites for their third leader and reflects the beliefs and attitude of the inhabitants of the great land of Iran. In this show, it is possible to clearly see the connection between the ancient beliefs, myths and rituals of Iran and Islamic beliefs, and to recognize the faces of mythological warriors in the heroes and figures of the history of early Islam, around whom ta'zia meetings are formed. This show, like all ritual shows and sacred performing arts, is symbolic. A show that portrays the eternal conflict between good and evil, Ahura and Ahriman in the group of parents and elders. A show that the common people made and the elites sometimes had to support and pull it.

2- 1- Statement of the problem

The ritualistic communication art of Tazieh is the religious show of the people of Iran, which has been forced to retreat due to the loss of urbanization and modernization, but it has had its impact on the theater and modern Iranian cinema, so that the influential directors of the country's cinema, whether in the field of theater and cinema have shown their imitation of it in their works. Of course, looking at the rituals and traditions of the past and its impact on the media can be considered a pure act.

Given that Ta'ziyeh show as a show of the Shiite religion, which has been very prosperous in the cultural-communication atmosphere of Iranian society, is approaching its transformation today, it is necessary to pay attention to its characteristics and indicators, including aesthetics and performance techniques, the form of music, the role of the audience and the actor in the performance, in order to take a step in the recognition of this communication ritual and its strong revival. Also, in In this research, in addition to the recognition of Ta'ziyeh, we point out its reception in cinema and theater, and we will evaluate its performance capabilities and unique capabilities in contemporary communication arts. Therefore, by examining and analyzing the factors related to ta'ziyeh, this tradition is subject to scientific work, so that effective steps can be taken to introduce it.

In his researches, Jabir Elemi has been able to collect the versions of this ritual tradition and has discussed this ceremony in his book, "Ta'ziyeh" in Iran, but there is no extensive research on the role of ta'ziyeh in communication arts, as well as the aesthetic category of this ritual ceremony. Relying on image information data continues this scientific search for the application of this ritual. (Elementari, 1366) Scientific goals: to know the religious performance of Ta'zia from the perspective of communication and propaganda

b. Practical goals: identifying the logic of aesthetics. Implementation techniques of Ta'zieh for use in contemporary cultural and communication communication

4-1- Necessity and importance of research

One of the special needs of conducting this research are: recording and preserving the ancient customs of our land and recognizing it for its implementation in guiding the country's tomorrow's cultural communication and advertising, in order to prevent the entry of foreign communication arts that cause the country's cultural atmosphere to be stagnant. The people's acceptance of ta'ziyeh should be said: the influx of technological media, the existence of urban life and the era when ta'ziyeh is restricted and prohibited in Iran, as well as the change in people's tastes in big cities are the reasons for the decrease in acceptance of ta'ziyeh. Obviously, in order to create a space ready for the flourishing of this cultural phenomenon, one of the most important measures can be conducting research in this field and comprehensively identifying this art and its audience. In addition to these cases, in terms of traditions and rituals, Ta'ziyeh should not be abandoned because it is a manifestation of the culture of this country and it is mentioned in the travelogues of Europeans and is like a part of our ancient works. Another approved angle is the artistic and literary point of view, which cannot be ignored and we have thousands of texts of ta'ziah. And finally, it is from a religious point of view that all the cultural power of the society must be mobilized to restore Ta'ziyeh.

The research on "Ta'ziyeh and its role in religious propaganda and communication of the Iranian people" is classified into 5 chapters, and the main content of the work along with researches, findings and interpretations is followed up and explained in Chapter 4.