Representing the challenge of tradition and modernity in family films of the eighties of Iranian cinema

Dissertation for Master's degree (MA)

Tension: Art Research

Abstract

The intellectual and technical achievements of Western civilization, which is referred to as modernity, entered the traditional society of Iran about two hundred years ago. From the very beginning, this confrontation left an impact on all the institutions of the society and caused challenges that continue to this day. But according to experts, in the last one or two decades, with the expansion of mass communication tools and the increasing familiarity of young people with the manifestations of modern life, the effects of modernity have appeared above all in the institution of the family. This research aims to find out what effect the clash of tradition and modernity has had on the society and its most important institution, the family, and how these effects have been represented in family films of Iranian cinema. For this purpose, three films "Unlined paper" made by Nasser Taqwai (1380), "Bahin Simply" made by Reza Mirkarimi (1386) and "Agha Youssef" made by Ali Rafiei (1389) were selected and analyzed based on the discourse theory of Lacla and Moff and using the method of discourse semiotics as well as referring to theoretical research studies. The result obtained is that, firstly, in the family films of Iranian cinema, family differences and differences in the views of family members are represented in the form of conflict and contrast between the two discourses of tradition and modernity. Secondly: by studying movies as cultural products of the society, it is possible to get a better understanding of social concerns, including the challenges of the Iranian family.

Key words: tradition, modernity, family films of Iranian cinema, the discourse theory of Lacla and Mouffe. It becomes possible through the focus of thinkers on new organizations such as workshops, factories, industry, universities, government and government. In Iran, this identification is done more than anything through the institution of the family (Azad Aramaki, 2013: 5). In other words, according to the researchers, the developments and transformations caused by the introduction of modernity (technology and modern thinking) into the traditional Iranian society have had the greatest impact on the family center, so that the Iranian family has faced serious challenges in this field in recent decades. Family disputes, from husband and wife fights and actual divorce and emotional divorce of the two to conflicts between parents and children that sometimes even lead to teenagers and young people running away from home, all show the challenges that have arisen as a result of the conflict between traditional and modern views in families. The results of theoretical and research studies also confirm the transformation and crisis in the Iranian family, so that experts in the field of the family have to explain how these changes and transformations are. Cinema and film have the ability to mediate our understanding of society and its developments, and as a social-cultural element, it can take us to the depth of the layers of our social life and bring us to a relatively deep understanding of our contemporary social conditions (Raudrad and Farshbaf, 2017: 34).

Cinema reached Iran not too long after its invention in Europe. This emerging phenomenon, which was the achievement of the modern and technological world of the West and emerged from the Western culture, had entered a land and culture that was not very ready to absorb it, and for this reason, from the very beginning, incompatibilities between this modern phenomenon and the traditional society arose. A group of traditional strata considered cinema as an unpleasant phenomenon and fundamentally opposed it, on the other hand, another group that had the idea of ??modernizing Iran considered cinema as a useful means to achieve this goal. Anyway, despite all the adversities, cinema continued to exist in Iranian society.

With the creation of the first examples of melodrama cinema in Iran, the subject of the struggle between tradition and modernity in the Iranian family and society, which has many dramatic capabilities, became the main focus of the story of many films. In different periods and depending on the social and cultural conditions as well as the wishes of the ruling institutions, the film's theme of tradition and modernity has seen changes, but this topic has still retained its appeal for cinematographers. Some filmmakers also dealt with this confrontation not as the main story, but on the sidelines and implicitly..

In the last one or two decades, especially with the widespread use of mass communication tools, along with other social developments, a new wave of confrontation between tradition and modernity has emerged in our country. During these years, not only big cities, but also small cities and even villages of Iran have undergone this transformation. Cinematographers are also not far from the flow of these developments and have depicted the impact of the transformations caused by modernity on the structure of Iranian society and its most important institution, the family, in their works more than in the past.

Generally, this thesis is presented in five chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the generalities of the plan, which includes statement of the problem, research objectives, research questions, etc. is In the second chapter of the theoretical foundations of the research, it is stated that this chapter itself includes three parts: the first part of theoretical studies related to tradition and modernity, the second part of the theoretical framework of the research and the third part of the research conducted related to this research. The third chapter is the methodological chapter, in which the research method, the statistical community, and has been paid In the fourth chapter, the analysis of the research data was done, and the fifth chapter is dedicated to the conclusions and answers to the research questions. 1-1 Statement of the problem The challenge between tradition and modernity in Iran has been more prominent in two periods of time; The first time was during the constitutional period and by a group of intellectuals of that era who were farang and knew Farangi language, they tried to find a way to compensate for this backwardness by comparing the miserable situation of Iran and the progress of western societies. By borrowing from the intellectual and technological achievements of the West, these people intended to provide a remedy for the pain of Iran's decline at that time. Of course, because the cultural and intellectual grounds for accepting this new life were not available, conflicts inevitably occurred between this group and other social institutions. But despite all the resistance, a number of achievements of modern thought entered Iranian life.

But the second period of confrontation between tradition and modernity is not far from our reach, this time it brings new thinking, lifestyle and values, not only for books and newspapers, but also for a small group of literate urban people who are electronic waves and are easily accessible to everyone, even the most remote areas of Iran. These new facilities, which became widespread in the years after the mid-seventies and especially the eighties, (along with other influential factors such as the noticeable growth of students and especially female students) provided the ground for the confrontation of traditional and modern values ??in the context of small but important social institutions such as the family. If in the past, the Iranian family was the normative authority for the Iranian family, religion and traditions, now, along with these two factors, some of the achievements of modernity such as the Internet and satellite networks, with their power and wide penetration rate, induce their effects on the society, especially the youth.

Iranian cinema has also not benefited from the social and cultural transformations of its surrounding environment, and since the art of the cinema industry has many capabilities to raise issues and also influence the audience, cinematographers have this possibility. They have used to express their opinions, thoughts and social concerns in various fields, including the contrast between tradition and modernity, and as it can be seen, the trend of producing films with this theme has increased in recent years. This research aims to find out what effect the clash of tradition and modernity had on society and its most important institution, the family, and how these effects were represented in family films of the 1980s. 1-2 research goals The most important goal of this research is to show how cultural products such as movies represent the intellectual currents of the community, including the challenges that the Iranian family faces. they do Another goal of the research is to reach the elaboration[1] of the discourses in the family films of the 1980s of Iranian cinema. Also, obtaining the definitions presented by each of the discourses for the basic concepts of the family in the movies can be considered as another goal of this research. 1-3 The importance of the research topic and the reasons for its selection The entry of new norms (especially with the spread of new media) into the Iranian society and family and the conflict that new patterns have created with religious and customary traditions is an issue that we will carefully consider around us. he saw Cinematographers have also used this issue, directly or indirectly, in many of their films.