Religious aspects in communication processes in early Pahlavi Iran

Katja Follmer

Since the early twentieth century, both traditional and modern forms of communication have been used in the Iranian public sphere to shape the religious, social and political discourse of reform and change. While during the successful protest against the tobacco monopoly (1891-92), Shi‘ite clerics made use of traditional modes of mass communication, a few years later the Constitutional Movement (1905-11) employed the newly emerging print media. Traditionally, religious, didactic and popular modes of communication were based on direct face-to-face contacts. Only those who had good social networks could communicate with larger groups across the regions. The Shi‘ite clergy, which maintained relationships with all social classes, was therefore the most influential group and a certain kind of medium for the distribution of information among the masses. The rise of the new media gradually changed both the traditional social relationship and sphere of influence. As a result of the emergence of new media such as the press, of the new political and social self-awareness and the increasing literacy of the Iranian common people, especially in the 1930s, written mass communication gained importance in Iranian society. Those who had traditionally been passive recipients became increasingly active in the Iranian public sphere. The new urban intellectual middle class, which had access to foreign sources of information, dominated the discourses in the print media and published new ideas in their own critical newspapers. These publications were read by a growing public.

The social and technical developments, along with a strong censorship, intensified in the Pahlavi period. Social change, migration and increasing literacy led to the emergence of new modes of communication, particularly in urban centres, while the traditional ones still flourished in rural areas. The new mass media were the preferred means of public communication for both state and opposition, while clerics still tended to ignore them.

On the basis of some examples, this paper will examine different aspects of public communication that are related to religion. It will focus on the representation of religion in specific settings in Iran until the late 1930s. Particular attention will be given to the role and function of various ‘media’ and communication practices of the Shi‘ite clergy, the Iranian people during public religious and popular performances, the print media and literary texts.