An Examination of the Cultural Politics of Education/Pedagogy in Iran Based on a Lacanian Analysis of Two Iranian Banned Novels
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An examination of the cultural politics of education/pedagogy in Iran based on a Lacanian analysis of two Iranian banned novels Sajad Kabgani A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Education Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences April, 2019 Thesis/Dissertation Sheet THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Kabgani First name: Sajad Other name/s: N/A Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: Education Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences Title: An examination of the cultural politics of education/pedagogy in Iran based on a Lacanian analysis of two Iranian banned novels Abstract The cultural politics of education/pedagogy in Iran after the 1979 revolution has been closely entangled with the state's post- revolution ideology. As a result of this intermingling, an exclusionary, hegemonic and homogenising approach has been developed by the dominant cultural/pedagogic institutions in Iran, leading to censoring and banning cultural products that do not comply with the state's revolutionary causes. The current thesis pursues two related purposes: to examine how the Iranian society after the revolution has been depicted in the works excluded from the state's cultural sphere, and to see how these works represent a conception of subjectivity. With these purposes in mind, Shahriar Mandanipour's (2009) novel, Censoring an Iranian Love Story, and Mahmoud Dowlatabadi's (2012) novel, The Colonel, as two examples of banned/excluded literary works have been selected. The notion of exclusion, which has been taken synonymous with censorship in this research, is examined from two perspectives: Rancière's aesthetic theory, and the Foucauldian notion of power-knowledge. This has been done in order to address the gap existing in the academic study of censorship in Iran after the revolution. While these two approaches have been used to explain the way through which censorship works in post-revolution Iran, the novels in question have been analysed through a Lacanian theory of subjectivity. A psychoanalytic transferential reading approach coupled with a close reading approach have been used as a method for reading and analysing the novels. Based on the analysis made, it was shown that in Mandanipour's novel the notion of love/sexuality, as an embodiment of lack in the Lacanian ontological argument, is set against the hegemonic positioning of the state, and in Dowlatabadi's novel the utopian, homogenising ideology of the state has been challenged through the depiction of the demise of a revolutionary family. 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Publications can be used in their thesis in lieu of a Chapter if: • The candidate contributed greater than 50% of the content in the publication and is the “primary author”, ie. the candidate was responsible primarily for the planning, execution and preparation of the work for publication • The candidate has approval to include the publication in their thesis in lieu of a Chapter from their supervisor and Postgraduate Coordinator. • The publication is not subject to any obligations or contractual agreements with a third party that would constrain its inclusion in the thesis Please indicate whether this thesis contains published material or not: This thesis contains no publications, either published or submitted for ☒ publication (if this box is checked, you may delete all the material on page 2) Some of the work described in this thesis has been published and it has ☐ been documented in the relevant Chapters with acknowledgement (if this box is checked, you may delete all the material on page 2) This thesis has publications (either published or submitted for publication) ☐ incorporated into it in lieu of a chapter and the details are presented below CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION I declare that: • I have complied with the UNSW Thesis Examination Procedure • where I have used a publication in lieu of a Chapter, the listed publication(s) below meet(s) the requirements to be included in the thesis. 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Primary Supervisor’s name Primary Supervisor’s signature Date (dd/mm/yy) Add additional boxes if required COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents a non-exclusive licence to archive and to make available (including to members of the public) my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known. I acknowledge that I retain all intellectual property rights which subsist in my thesis or dissertation, such as copyright and patent rights, subject to applicable law. I also retain the right to use all or part of my thesis or dissertation in future works (such as articles or books).’ ‘For any substantial portions of copyright material used in this thesis, written permission for use has been obtained, or the copyright material is removed from the final public version of the thesis.’ Signed Date AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis.’ Signed Date Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................................1 PREFACE .....................................................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND CENSORSHIP ................................................................................................. 9 1.2 PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................. 12 1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 AN EXPLORATION OF CENSORSHIP IN THE POST-REVOLUTION ERA: A POSSIBLE