توضیحات

۱DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

            The term discourse analysis has come to be used with a wide range of meaning which cover a wide range of activities. There are many existing approaches to the study of language. One of them which this study is based upon, is critical discourse analysis (CDA). This approach grew out of work in different disciplines in the 1960s and early 1970s, including linguistics, semiotics, psychology, anthropology

and sociology. CDA analyses social interactions in a way which focuses upon their linguistic elements, and which sets out to show up their generally hidden determinants in the system of social relationships, as well as hidden effects they may have upon that system. Since CDA is not a specific direction of research, it does not have a unitary theoretical framework. Therefore, in this research project, in order to overcome the potential weaknesses of any single method, a critical linguistic analysis will be adopted from some of the most influential linguists in the field to analyse the formal linguistic features of the

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the written electoral materials from the 7^th presidential election in Iran, to explain discourse structures in terms of properties of social interaction and especially social structure, and to focus on the ways discourse structures enact, conform, legitimate, reproduce or challenge relations of power and ideology in society.

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN 

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1. To help correct a widespread underestimation of the significance of language in the production, maintenance, and change of social relations of power in Iran.
2. To refer to the order of discourse of the society as a whole, which structures the orders of discourse of the various social institutions in a particular way.
3. To show that orders of discourse are ideologically harmonized internally or (at the societal level) with each other.
4. To stress both the determination of discourse by social structure, and the effects of discourse upon society through its reproduction of social structures.
5. To examine the relationship between discourse and sociocultural change.

So this research project aims to answer the following questions:

1. What were the formal textual features of the conservatives’ and reformists’ discourses at the 7^th presidential election?
2. How did their discourses and strategies change and why?
3. What were the ideologies behind the discourse of each group?
4. What was the relationship between language of each party and power?

SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY

There are many existing approaches to the study of language (e.g. linguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, cognitive psychology, etc.) but while each of them has something to contribute to critical language study, they all have major limitations from a critical point of view.

The critical discourse analysis upon which this study is based, does not adhere to any particular approach. It is similar to a qualitative research method in that it deals with non-numerical data and can only be validated by other researchers examining the same data.

However, its similarity can only be detected to a certain point because a qualitative research method is either synthetic or holistic, whereas critical linguistics is analytic in nature.  A qualitative method on content analysis is rejected on the grounds of its inability to get beneath the textual surface where the crucial meanings lie.  So in this research a critical linguistic analysis will be adopted from some of the most influential linguists in the field (in order to overcome the potential weaknesses of any single method) including Fairclaough (1989, 1992, 1995), Fowler (1991) and van Dijk (1981, 1985) to :

1. Study the theoretical aspects of the subject i.e. explanation and definition of the concepts of ideology, power, discourse, discourse analysis, order of discourse, critical discourse analysis, etc.
2. Study the descriptive aspects of the subject, i.e. giving a systematic presentation of a procedure for critical discourse analysis; setting out a view of interrelationship of language and society; illustrating the place of language in society, and showing that language connects with the social through being the primary domain of ideology, and through being both a site of, and a stake in,
4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRANstruggles for power.
5. Study the analytic aspects of the subject, i.e. analysing the formal textual features of their statements, press interviews and electoral speeches and manifestoes of the two main candidates for presidency – Khatami and Nategh Noori and their main supporters.

As the primary sources of the present study, the written electoral materials such as the speeches and manifestoes published in newspapers and the published interviews and debates of the candidates, and as the secondary sources the speeches, statements and articles of other politicians as well as the editorials of the newspapers regarding the presidential election, from the 8^th of May, 1997 when the Council of Guardians announced the names of the eligible candidates upto the last day of election (23^rd of May, 1997) would be taken into consideration.

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

Time period required to complete the research project: Approximately two years.

Field work: No specific field work is required in this research project.

Place/libraries where research work is to be carried out: In order to establish a good, rich theoretical framework for the study, I have to visit and search so many libraries and universities such s American centre library, British council library, library of Delhi University, library of JNU (all located in Delhi) as well as the library of Panjab University, Changidarh.

          Since this research project aims to analyse the texts from the seventh presidential election in Iran, and as per the recommendation of the committee I have co-opted a co-supervisor from Iran in my research work, therefore for collecting the relevant materials as well as visiting my co-supervisor I also have to visit Iran.

PROPOSAL

Background of the Study: The 1970s saw the emergence of a form of discourse and text analysis that recognized the role of language in structuring power relations in society.  At that time, much linguistic research elsewhere was focused on formal aspects of language which constituted the linguistic competence of speakers which could theoretically be isolated from specific instances of language use (Chomsky, 1957).  Where the relation between language and context was considered, as in pragmatics (Levinson, 1983), with a focus on speakers’ pragmatic / socio-linguistic competence, sentences and components of sentences were still regarded as the basic units.  Much socio-linguistic research at the time was aimed at describing and explaining language variation, language change and the structures

Chapter 4

A Critical discourse analysis

of the election campaigns texts and

the development of the May 23 event

This chapter is focused on the analysis of the Islamic Republic Of Iran (IRI) 7^th presidential election campaigns texts by combining the critical discourse analysis methods discussed in the previous chapters in light of Fairclough’s model (1989) at the three stages of ‘Description’, ‘Interpretation’, and ‘Explanation’. The Description stage deals with the linguistic features of the texts at semantic and

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

syntactic levels. The Interpretation stage, which is wider in scope, is concerned with the situational and intertextual contexts seeking the common discourse in the speech event to which the given text belongs.  Finally, the Explanation stage focuses on the power relations behind the discourses, the way the social structures restrict the discourse, and the mutual effect of the discourses on the social structures and power relations.

۴٫۱ Description

Description is the stage at which the critical analyst studies the formal properties and linguistic features of the language at semantic and syntactic levels taking into consideration the experiential, relational, and expressive values. In effect, this stage has to do with the social identities that are developed by the analyst. Nevertheless, as the speech texts are generally very lengthy, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to do a sentence-by-sentence linguistic analysis. Therefore, the discourse analysis in this study will be concerned with the overall text coherence as a result of word choice.

To begin with, the 7^th presidential election campaigns of Iran will be reconstructed as follows.

۴٫۱٫۱ The Election campaigns reconstruction model

The May-23 event (1997) is doubtless a turning point in the history of the Post-Revolution Iran. The campaign was a challenge to the two opposing discourses. The discourse model developed out of this political debate was full of new concepts and border lines as well as new cultural, social, and political perspectives. Another major outcome of this event was that the marginal non-official speeches crept into the territory of the official ones, and many forbidden views began to be verbalized. Some relevant instances will be presented later in this section.

As early as 1980s, the political order in Iran was defined within a major discourse domain pioneered by Imam Khomeini. Like any other dominant discourse, Imam Khomeini’s discourse was inclusive enough to encompass several discourses, and powerful enough to exclude several others from the political debates. Thus, in Imam’s time, there was the multiplicity of certain political discourses which will be discussed in the following sections. Each of the dominant discourses followed more or less the same pattern collectively referred to as ‘the official discourse’. It was a center-oriented discourse that presented a sacred view of the Post-Revolution Iran with a promising future. It was concerned with the Development policies in light of ‘social justice’, and sought to revive and spread the values of the Revolution and the imposed War.

During the 7^th presidential election campaign (1997), some of the excluded discourses found their way back to the political debates. The significance of the point lies in the fact that the admission of a marginal discourse to the scene would mean a serious challenge to the

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

political order and the emergence of costly political conflicts. The main [political] figures were not likely to welcome such conflicts, as the participation of the marginal discourses in the main field of political debates would lead to an unexpected situation for all stakeholders. The main figures would rather settle their conflicts within the dominant discourse framework so as not to pave the way for the opportunists waiting behind the tight election campaigns. Now the question may be raised as to how the May-23 (khordad the Second) event paved that way.

۴٫۱٫۲ The political atmosphere in Iran prior to the May-23 event (khordad the Second)

In the last few months of the year 1996, the political parties began to plan for an active participation in the Iran’s 7^th presidential election. The political atmosphere was under the influence of some significant factors as follows.

1. After Hashemi Rafsanjani’s second term of presidency, the political parties began to expect a new era in the country’s political challenges. In the conventional presidency campaign, aside from the first presidential election, there always used to be one distinguished political figure among the candidates who was in the limelight and all parties kept encouraging the public to participate in the election. This time, however, no such a figure appeared on the stage to exclude the other parties, and, therefore, all political groups seemed to have the opportunity to try their chance in the campaign and encourage active public participation.
2. The so-called Right Party had more chances of success. Prior to the Parliament’s 5^th election, they had gained the majority of the seats, and in the second half of Hashemi’s last term of presidency, the Party began to expand its scope of influence. The majority of the MPs, the Assembly of Experts, the Council of Guardians², the Judiciary, some departments of the Executive including the

4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

   Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Islamic Culture and Guidance, The Revolutionary Army (Sepah Pasdaran), The Militia (Basseej), and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) all took sides with the Right Party. Therefore, the scope of the Right’s power was growing in public view from 1994 on. The opposition parties could at best take advantage of the election campaigns to introduce themselves only, hiring the isolated political groups with the purpose of finding an opportunity to appear on the stage. As a result, the public had the impression that the Right would definitely win the election.

5. Despite being strongly supported, the Right Party was lacking in a figure that, character wise, could be comparable to the past popular candidates. This was the Right’s Achilles’ heel, which the Left could take advantage of during the political challenge. Based on the Parliament’s 5^th Election results, the Left could predict that their active participation in the 7^th presidential election would lead to one of the following outcomes:

(a)    The Right would narrowly win the election while the Left remains a strong opposition group.

(b)    The Right would sabotage the Left’s effective participation which the former would eventually pay for. The least serious outcome of this sabotage could be little public participation.

4. The Parliament’s 5^th election disclosed a critical disintegration in the established political front. Just before this election, a group of people in the so-called Right Party who called themselves ‘The Construction Agents’ branched out and were referred to as ‘The Modernist Right’ thereafter. In the late 1996, rumors were spread as to the coalition of these two sub-branches. The coalition, however, failed, and the way was eventually paved for the May-23 event in 1997.

The way each party appeared in the election campaigns were the indications of their psychological state. Based on their perception of the election results, each party adopted certain strategies, which will be discussed in detail in the following sections.

۴٫۱٫۳ The Left Party (Reformists)

Ever since August 1996, the Left unofficially introduced Mir-Hussein Moosavi³ as their candidate, while the introduction of Nategh Noori had begun months before by the Right. The Left considered Moosavi as the reliable prime minister in Imam’s time, a great support to the Islamic troops during the 8-year Holy Defense, a true revolutionary, an expert, and a priceless asset to the Revolution. He was believed to have an extra-party approach respected by most parties as well as the Parliament⁴.

Moosavi’s candidacy rightly empowered the position of the Left, and, in the meantime, the Right did every attempt to make him change his mind.  With Moosavi’s resignation from candidacy on October 29, 1996, the Left Party felt politically empty. Pressed for time, the Left had no other alternative.

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

The significance of the Left Party’s discourse from October 29, 1996 until January 27, 1997 when Khatami’s candidacy was officially announced lies in its inclination toward the official discourse. The official discourse focused on the Revolution and Leadership and was supported by the devoted parties with the public in the margin.

After Moosavi’s resignation, the Left adopted a special discourse to invalidate the rival party and prove its own position as a rightful opposition party unfairly suppressed. By claiming that honest revolutionaries such as Moosavi are forced out of the political campaigns, they tried to provide evidence for the Right’s monopolistic strategies.

The Left Party were aware of the significance of their presence in the election, as their active participation would be an exciting challenge to the Right. Nevertheless, the Left wouldn’t like to have a contribution to the rival party’s success by adding to the excitement of the

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

challenge.  On the other hand, any chance of success for the Left would mean defeat to the Right, so the latter appealed to any powerful resources to hold the former back. By the same token, if the Left Party decided to give up, the Right would be worried as to the possibility of negative outcomes due to lack of public participation. The Left Party took advantage of this critical situation warning that they would not participate. The Left’s strategy could be likened to that of a player, who leaves the field because he was not given a prestigious position, and therefore, tries to either stop the game or make it look unfair or less exciting.

After long covert debates, the Left finally introduced Khatami, an attractive political figure, who officially announced his candidacy on January 27, 1997 in support of the Association of Clergy Crusaders (ACC), Imam’s Followers, and The Construction Agents.  Khatami took several trips to different cities and made many speeches from late January 1997 until May 19, 1997.  His campaign speeches addressed two categories of people with the same purpose. The first category included the intellectuals and the academic community, while the second category included the mass.  Speech wise, he addressed the first category, and behavior wise, the second category. These features will later be discussed in detail.

By addressing the academic community in his earlier campaign speeches, Khatami appeared as a different persona. He presented a new

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

version of the official discourse. However, after the Council of Guardians’ approval of his candidacy, Khatami’s discourse turned much similar to the official discourse. The novelty found earlier in his speeches and his later shift toward the official discourse could be observed in both the semantics and syntax of his discourse.

In next sections, Khatami’s campaign speeches will be analyzed at both semantic and syntactic levels in two parts: before and after the Council of Guardians’ approval of his candidacy. The purpose is to reveal how a marginal discourse crept into the body of a main discourse, that of Khatami’s, and the shift of the latter toward the official discourse.

۴٫۱٫۳٫۱  A new discourse in the election campaigns

Since late January1997 until May 1997 (when the names of the approved candidates were announced), Khatami made several speeches that manifested a different discourse in terms of both form and content. The novelty and difference of his discourse lie in the following features:

1. As a religious thinker moving to the center stage, he was called an armed intellectual by the neo-religious groups.
2. He revolutionized the political discourse replacing economic development by political development.
3. He introduced a two fold discourse against the official discourse.
4. To him, political action was devoid of sanctity.
5. He combined national values with religious values.
6. He introduced a comprehensive discourse.
7. He introduced a new version of the common topics of the official discourse.
8. His discourse was future-oriented.

۴٫۱٫۳٫۱٫۱  A thinker rather than politician

Khatami was the first political figure who moved to the center stage as a neo-religious thinker. It should be pointed out that in the early years after the victory of the Revolution, the country was dominated mainly by the political figures and, therefore, scientific debates were

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

confined to the intellectual community. Politicians’ speeches were just concerned with the Revolution’s achievements, prospective plans, and the enemies’ conspiracies. The opposition groups, however, talked about the philosophy of religion, the relationship between religion and democracy, liberalism, etc., using philosophical jargons prevalent in the academic communities only.

Khatami, however, extended his philosophical view to the election campaigns, and this was why he sounded different among the educated people. His most prominent speech was delivered on the night of Ramadan 21^st in the Iranian Students’ Islamic Associations Union (Tahkim-e Vahdat Office). Extracts of his speech are presented below:

(After Mostowfee’s discussion about religious freedom (Falaah) which relates to internal freedom and how it differs from modern freedom which is external)… My point is the relationship between Falaah as I perceive it, an old philosophical key concept, and freedom referred to as liberto today. What is the relationship between these two? Is there a contrast, or can they be reconciled? I’d like to conclude my speech

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

and offer my own interpretation with reference to Imam Ali…. In the world of Islam and in the world of Christianity, there emerged an extremist view of Man and the World which led to some discrepancies between the external freedom and the outside freedom. An extremist approach held that attending to Man’s spiritual values requires rejecting the material values and the material world… If Islam is what the extremist view of Sufism advocated (which, in my view, dominated a major part of the world of Islam and was imposed on Moslems), then no reconciliation is likely between religion and Freedom (in its modern sense). Nor is it likely in the world of Christianity in view of Self-

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE WRITTEN ELECTORAL MATERIALS FROM THE 7th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN IRAN

denial. If we adopt a moderate approach to religion whereby the material world is not totally rejected and Man’s rights in this world are recognized, the modern view of freedom would sound acceptable…. Liberalism cannot serve as a system of life, or of religious life, for that matter. But, freedom, in its political sense, the one acknowledged by the ruling system (which is also partly a pre-requisite for Liberalism), can be considered as an appropriate religious approach (provided we modify our ontological and epistemological views). With reference to Imam Ali’s words, I will show how it is possible to conceive of the world as a factual phenomenon among the goods, rather than the evils.⁵

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