Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Tehran Faculty of Social Sciences
Abstract
This article employs an archaeological approach, drawing on the concept of "serious speech acts" and Althusser's "problematic," to examine the formation and consolidation of an archaizing discursive order within the cultural policies of the first Pahlavi government. The central question of this research concerns the manifestation and objectification of this discursive order in the cultural policies of that era. Archaizing discourses of Iranian romantic nationalists of the pre-constitutional period, as the prehistory of this discourse, intertwine with post-constitutional nationalist historiography and materialize in the cultural policies of the first Pahlavi era. This discourse, particularly within the two organizations of "Cultivation of Thoughts" and "Iranian Scouting," becomes institutionalized and transforms into a practical model for the cultural policies of the Pahlavi government. The archaizing nationalist discourses, by referencing subjects from Akhundzadeh and Kermani to Pirnia and Pourdavoud, shape the main centers for guiding behaviors and social structures. In this process, the identification of "spiritual malaise" as an impediment to the "education of the nation" and efforts to remedy it through the "cultivation of minds" and the "cultivation of bodies" occur within the framework of strengthening the "spirit of society" and the "forces of the nation." This remedy materializes through the promotion of "patriotism," "loyalty to the Shah," and "God-worship," and the continuous reproduction of these concepts in the form of "moral education," within the context of the archaizing nationalist discursive order.
Keywords: Cultivation of Minds and Bodies, Spiritual Malaise, Education of the Nation, Archaeology, Archaism, Cultivation of Thoughts.
Introduction
Nationalist discourses infused with antiquarianism and racialism, originating from pre-Constitutional intellectuals, were actualized in the First Pahlavi regime's cultural policies. To legitimize itself, the regime employed a "romantic nationalism"—where antiquarianism and racialism were central. This nationalism, emphasizing nostalgia for "Ancient Iran" and othering the "Islamic era," dominated pre-Qajar intellectuals' rhetoric. These discourses, in continuity with nationalist historiography, were actualized, institutionalized, and became the state’s operational paradigm, particularly through the "Organization for Public Mind Cultivation" and the "Iranian Scouting Organization"—key sites for directing behavior. By diagnosing the "malady of the motherland" and advancing "national education" (mental and physical), these discourses were embedded within antiquarian-racialist rhetoric. Aimed at revitalizing the "spirit of society" and "strengthening the nation’s vigor," this process was problematized, and the organizations became arenas for materializing antiquarian discourses. Thus, the formation of an antiquarian discursive order within the First Pahlavi’s cultural policies is rooted in this. This article questions how this order was actualized in the regime's practices via these organizations. Existing scholarship largely identifies the core components of this ideology, but the concretization of this nationalist order, particularly through these institutions, is under-explored. This study demonstrates how antiquarian-racialist discourses—aimed at rejuvenating the "spirit of society"—were problematized as a remedy for a "spiritual malady," achievable through "patriotism" and "loyalty to the Shah," materialized in the rhetoric of these two organizations.
Research Question
How did the antiquarian discursive order within the First Pahlavi's cultural policies, using Foucaultian archaeology and Althusserian problematique, materialize and attain objectivity through the "Organization for Public Mind Cultivation" and the "Iranian Scouting Organization"?
Theoretical-Methodological Framework
This article examines the formation of the archaist discursive order during Reza Shah's reign using Althusser's "problematic" and "epistemological rupture" alongside Foucaultian discourse analysis (archaeology) with four categories: "objects," "enunciative modalities," "formation of concepts," and "formation of strategies." This order, centered on "nation-building," is reflected in "cultivation of minds" and "cultivation of bodies." From an Althusserian view, "problematic" is a network of assumptions enabling certain issues while marginalizing others. Thus, Reza Shah's racial archaist discourse is a product of a problematic where "Aryan race" and "ancient grandeur" become central. "Epistemological rupture" denotes a radical cognitive transformation; here, archaist discourse is analyzed as a rupture from preceding discourses.
Results
This study employs Foucauldian discourse analysis and Althusserian concepts of problematic and epistemological break to examine the racialized ancient-oriented nationalist discourse propagated by the Sazman-e Parvaresh-e Afkar (Organization for the Cultivation of Thoughts) and the Iranian Scouts Organization during Reza Shah’s reign (1925–1941). Key findings include:
1 .Hegemonic Reproduction of Ancient-Oriented Nationalism: Central concepts like "patriotism," "monarchism," and "national cultivation" were discursively constructed to forge a unified identity rooted in pre-Islamic glory, juxtaposed against the "degenerate Islamic era." Cultural institutions naturalized these tropes through lectures, radio programs, and literacy campaigns, framing them as remedies for the "spiritual illness" of Iranian society.
Medicalization of Society: Metaphors of "social pathology" and "therapeutic intervention" merged medical discourse with nationalist ideology, legitimizing state control over citizens’ minds and bodies. Narratives like the "ailing mother" (symbolizing the nation) and the "healing son" (Reza Shah) reinforced the Shah’s role as the savior of Iran’s "degenerate soul."
European Fascist Influences: The organization’s propaganda strategies mirrored European fascist models (e.g., Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy), blending concepts like "national unity" and "leader worship" with reinvented Persian imperial motifs.
Disciplinary Subject-Making: The dual focus on mental cultivation (via ideological indoctrination) and physical discipline (through the Scouts Organization) reflected a shift from punitive to biopolitical governance. Phrases like "monarchism inherent in Iranian blood" or "a healthy body as the foundation of national prosperity" constructed docile subjects aligned with state ideology.
Genealogy of Discourse: This discursive regime drew from 19th-century Romantic nationalism (e.g., Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani) and revisionist historiography by scholars like Pirniya and Nafisi, who ideologically reinterpreted Iran’s past to legitimize Pahlavi modernization projects. By analyzing archival speeches, policies, and institutional practices, this research reveals how the Pahlavi state instrumentalized cultural institutions to impose a hegemonic nationalist narrative, transforming citizens into disciplined subjects of a modernizing authoritarian regime.
Conclusion
This study examined the formation of the archaist discursive order during Reza Shah's reign, aiming at "nation-building," using Althusser's concepts and Foucaultian discourse analysis within four categories, through the "cultivation of minds" and "cultivation of bodies." Regarding objects, "patriotism," "devotion to the Shah," and "nation-building" within "racially archaist discourse" materialized in cultural policies, particularly in the Organization for the Advancement of Thought and the Iranian Scouting Organization, structured through discursive practices. In enunciative modalities, emphasis was on granting speech rights to nation-building cultural figures, organizing cultural institutions, and shifting their policy-making status. These figures, reproducing serious speech acts, shaped subjects' lifeworld. "Competence criteria" linked status to knowledge. Concept formation analysis examined discourse rules and speaker adherence as consolidation mechanisms. Strategy formation analyzed "returning to ancient Iran" as a tool to overcome the "Islamic era." Serious speech acts systematically shaped objects. "Patriotism," "devotion to the Shah," and "theism" in alignment with "nation-building," in these institutions, defined the Pahlavi I era's discursive order, reproduced and stabilized through concept chains. The determination of this order reflects the accumulation of romantic nationalist statements in historians' works, institutionalized in the Pahlavi I state's governance, functioning as a tool for "cultivation of minds" and "embodiment." These discourses, identifying the "spiritual malady" of subjects and attempting to cure it through concepts like "patriotism" and "moral education," problematized societal embodiment. The dominant discourse, through cultural institutions, reconstructed subjects' lifeworlds by strengthening the "spirit of society" and the "forces of the nation." Ultimately, the Pahlavi I state adopted archaist ideology as its directive, prescribing "patriotism" and a "return to ancient grandeur" as cures. This was implemented through institutions to transform society into obedient subjects. However, by marginalizing narratives, this discourse generated tensions within Iran’s cultural fabric, traceable to this day.
Keywords
- Cultivation of Minds and Bodies
- Spiritual Malaise
- Education of the Nation
- Archaeology
- Archaism
- Cultivation of Thoughts
Main Subjects
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