article

Ritual, the state, and the transformation of emotional discourse in Iranian society

Culture, medicine and psychiatry12 (1)Published In 1988 • Pages: 43-63

By: Good, Mary-Jo DelVecchio, Good, Byron J..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The Goods examine the culture of sadness that has engulfed revolutionary Iran. The Shi'ite passion play, the TA'ZIEH, with its underlying and highly emotional appeal for social justice, served the Moslem clerics well in bringing about the downfall of the Pahlavi regime (1979). However in the new Islamic Republic the TA'ZIEH has become part of state ideology, legitimizing the new regime. Furthermore, with the terrible death toll exacted by the Iran-Iraq War, funerals and mourning rituals have also become part of daily state-controlled media broadcasts. The Goods argue that mourning rituals in the past offered an important psychological release from the state's exactations and abuses, however now that they are an actual part of the state apparatus, they can no longer serve that role, resulting--the authors' claim-- in a rise in clinical depression.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Drives and emotions
Spectacles
Revolution
Theological systems
Religious experience
Organized ceremonial
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Iran
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Middle East
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Middle East
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 2005
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1072-1974
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1972-1985
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Iran
NotesAdditional notes
Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good and Byron J. Good
Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
79642232
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Iranians