Religion and Spirituality in Iranian Cinema Focuses Largely on Propaganda Films Exalting the Islamic Republic and Its Aspirations
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UNIVERSITY OF LONDON See over for Abstract of Thesis notes on completion Author (full names) JSl... .ft £.! .flfl f!ft. Is.................................................................. Title of thesis ............................................... y ...\n w&.o.iftfl C in e m a ..................................................................... ........... Degree O.O.CID. & .. .Q£ PJ.1I-LQSD.P H j What constitutes a serious engagement of religion and spirituality in film remains a contentious topic in Western academia. The small body of literature dedicated to the study of religion and spirituality in Iranian cinema focuses largely on propaganda films exalting the Islamic Republic and its aspirations. My research examines ways in which other films participate and engage with Shfi expressions of Islam. I have explored official and popular discourses within Shi4 ism, and applied a philosophical framework to understand other engagements of film with religion. Moreover, I have situated the films I study within the larger socio-historical context of Iran and thereby located filmic discourses within a much longer-standing and continuing discourse on religion and spirituality in Iranian cinema. I study the various debates by Iranian academics, clerics and critics on film’s compatibility or incongruity with religion and spirituality, and examine their relevance to the study of religion and spirituality in Iranian cinema. I examine films that debate contemporary official and formalistic religious discourses, drawing parallels between these films and the discourses of Iranian intellectual^ and thereby situating them within these wider debates. In order to demonstrate the more mystical approaches within Shi4 a Islam, I explore how Majidi’s films lend themselves to Sufi interpretations. I also analyse how Kiarostami’s films are poetic philosophies that invite viewers to rethink their existing ideas, thoughts and beliefs, be they rooted in scientific or theological approaches to religion. Finally, I demonstrate how cinema acts as a reservoir for popular, yet threatened traditions such asta ‘ziyeh, which faces increased pressure from both intellectuals and clerics. As a medium that has received little serious attention in the analysis and understanding of Shi4i religious expressions and articulations, my study situates film as a valid and important tool in understanding many of the current debates within Iran. ProQuest Number: 10731698 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731698 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Notes for Candidates 1 Type your abstract 011 the other side of this sheet. 2. Use single-space typing. Limit your abstract to one side of the sheet. 3. Please submit this copy of your abstract to the Research Degree Examinations Office, Room NBQ1, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU, at the same time as you submit copies of your thesis. 4. This abstract will be forwarded to the University Library, which will send this sheet to the British Library and to ASLIB (Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux) for publication in Index to Theses. For official use Subject Panel/Specialist Group BLLD ........................................... Date of Acceptance Bound By Blissett Bookbinders 020 8992 3965 www.blissetts.com Shi6ism and Film: Religion and Spirituality in Iranian Cinema Nacim Pak The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Doctor of Philosophy l Abstract What constitutes a serious engagement of religion and spirituality in film remains a contentious topic in Western academia. The small body of literature dedicated to the study of religion and spirituality in Iranian cinema focuses largely on propaganda films exalting the Islamic Republic and its aspirations. My research examines ways in which other films participate and engage with Shi‘i expressions of Islam. I have explored official and popular discourses within Shi‘ism, and applied a philosophical framework to understand other engagements of film with religion. Moreover, I have situated the films I study within the larger socio-historical context of Iran and thereby located filmic discourses within a much longer-standing and continuing discourse on religion and spirituality in Iranian cinema. I study the various debates by Iranian academics, clerics and critics on film’s compatibility or incongruity with religion and spirituality, and examine their relevance to the study of religion and spirituality in Iranian cinema. I examine films that debate contemporary official and formalistic religious discourses, drawing parallels between these films and the discourses of Iranian intellectuals, and thereby situating them within these wider debates. In order to demonstrate the more mystical approaches within Shi‘a Islam, I explore how Majidi’s films lend themselves to Sufi interpretations. I also analyse how Kiarostami’s films are poetic philosophies that invite viewers to rethink their existing ideas, thoughts and beliefs, be they rooted in scientific or theological approaches to religion. Finally, I demonstrate how cinema acts as a reservoir for popular, yet threatened traditions such taas ‘ziyeh, which faces increased pressure from both intellectuals and clerics. As a medium that has received 3 little serious attention in the analysis and understanding of Shi‘i religious expressions and articulations, my study situates film as a valid and important tool in understanding many of the current debates within Iran. 4 To the 14- year-old girl, Tahereh, Who became my mother and whose silent sacrifices allowed me to speak today. And to my 14-year-old girl, Pegah, Whose patience beyond years eased the pain o f deferring all the little and great things we wanted to do. 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................................................................7 Introduction................ ................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: Approaches to the Study of Religion and Spirituality in Western Cinema..................................18 Chapter 2: Aims and Methods of Research............................................................................................................ 57 Chapter 3: Socio-Historical Background of the Iranian Context................................................................. 73 Chapter 4: Contemporary Iranian Discourses on Religion and Cinema........................................................114 Chapter 5: Filmic Discourses on the Role of the Clergy in Iran......................................... ............................. 156 Chapter 6: Sight, Sound and Sufism: Mystical Islam in Majidi’s Films.........................................................191 Chapter 7: Thinking Films: Kiarostami, A Poetic Philosopher........................................................................220 Chapter 8: Cinema as a Reservoir for Cultural Memory...................................................................................252 Conclusions..................................................................................................................................................................294 Bibliography ..... 304 Filmography............................................................................................................. 315 6 Acknowledgements This research was made possible through the generosity and unstinting support of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London for which I am deeply grateful. I would also like to thank my supervisors Professor Annabelle Srebemy and Dr. Gabriel vom Bruck and the Associate Dean, Dr Isolde Standish for seeing me through this. Professor Richard Tapper was my first supervisor but left SOAS after my first year of PhD studies. His constant support and advice has been invaluable. Professor Azim Nanji, the former Director of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, provided an enabling and encouraging environment, allowing its students to grow and pursue their ideas and dreams. For that, and for believing in me, I am truly grateful to him. I would like to express my gratitude to my parents, Gholam Hassan Pak and Tahereh Radi, for always being there for me, during some of the most difficult times of my studies. I would also like to acknowledge my brothers, Ebrahim and Pejman, who were greatly inconvenienced by the absence of my parents in Iran during these periods. I would like to thank my daughter Pegah for her courage and patience throughout the last ten years, which began with two long years of separation. Her tender love and encouraging gestures in the form of drawings, charts and tailored achievement 7 certificates for me which even now adorn the walls around my table, and later her coffee treats for every chapter that I completed helped me carry on. For the last year, my younger daughter, Anahita has also been a great source