Gamban 3
Amanda Gamban
English 1A
Professor Knapps
10 March 2013
Censorship of the
Arts Narrative: Two Primary Goals of Ayatollah Khomeini
Ayatollah Khomeini was born in 1900
and through out his life he was a major influential religious leader and emphasized the importance of a true Islamic Country. Later on in his life he became the Islamic religious leader for Life in Iran. How Khomeini got there was by years of turmoil and
repression the government had for him at the time. The Shah was the Domain
Ruler of Iran from “1941-1979”(bbchistory.com) and his goals were to develop
the country in to a more western and modern society by exporting Iran’s Oil,
which only benefited the rich and elite. Ayatollah Khomeini strongly didn’t believe in
the new pro-western movement and his beliefs against the Shah had him exiled
from Iran from “1964-1979” (bbchistory.com). Even when Khomeini was out of Iran his followers were growing and
becoming stronger by throwing protests and resilient movements. The Shah grew
to be more and more hated as the people resisted, which led the Shah into exile and
for only Khomeini to return. When Khomeini returned to Iran he started the Islamic
Cultural Revolution and then took his place as “ highest-ranking official in
the Islamic Republic [who was as God’s representative on earth]…”(Callamard).
Khomeini strongly believed that this new Revolution was going to restore Iran to it's true self. So through Khomeini “divine and unconditionally authority to rue over the nation” (Callamard) he started with his two fundamental goals that would reform the country back to a pure Islamic Religious Republic he surely believed in. His two goals were derived from an Islamic conservative point of view. According to Ruahollh Khomeini, “The first was the destruction of the alien and dependent (mostly western) value system that the Pahlavi regime and its ‘Western masters’ had forced on the Iranian people”(Siavoshi). His second goal was to restore the country in to an authentic Islamic culture, “…that would recapture the dignity of Iran as a Muslim country” (Siavoshi). Through his eyes these goals were for the best for the country of Iran (from a conservative standpoint), but his new plan would only make things harder for the Iranian people.
Khomeini strongly believed that this new Revolution was going to restore Iran to it's true self. So through Khomeini “divine and unconditionally authority to rue over the nation” (Callamard) he started with his two fundamental goals that would reform the country back to a pure Islamic Religious Republic he surely believed in. His two goals were derived from an Islamic conservative point of view. According to Ruahollh Khomeini, “The first was the destruction of the alien and dependent (mostly western) value system that the Pahlavi regime and its ‘Western masters’ had forced on the Iranian people”(Siavoshi). His second goal was to restore the country in to an authentic Islamic culture, “…that would recapture the dignity of Iran as a Muslim country” (Siavoshi). Through his eyes these goals were for the best for the country of Iran (from a conservative standpoint), but his new plan would only make things harder for the Iranian people.
Khomeini's goals tremendously
affected the people of Iran’s freedom of expression. Censorship
of the arts, music, theater, literature, film, dance and other forms of
expression began to take place in his new regime. He believed that anything
that had influence from the West is an offense against the Muslim religion.
“Ayatollah Khomeini wrote that expressions of Westernization, such as theatre
and dancing, ‘rape the youth of our country and stifle in them the spirit of
virtue and bravery”(Callamard). His beliefs to reform this country were so
severe and extreme that there had to be certain councils to maintain his vision. The first council that was
appointed was the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council (SCRA), which was in
charge of regulating a “watchful eye” on art forms such as music, cinema, and literature
(Callamard). The second council was the Ministry of Culture and Information
Guidance (MCIG), which were “an elaborate system of councils that regulate and
monitor every sphere of artistic expression”(Callamard). These councils
have only have decreased the amount of freedom a person should have. The Iranian society are censored to the bone.
People of Iran are challenged with the fact that they lose the fundamental right of freedom of expression. How is an artist supposed to breathe under the conditions that the government has put on them? The answer to that is they can’t, without breaking any laws or the council scratching out every artistic idea. Ayatollah Khomeini goals have caused a major reversal of Iran’s society. From being allies with the West and reforming the country to a pro-western society with freedom of expression on the horizon to a pure Islamic Country. Where the religion dictates how people are supposed to live their lives. In the words of Stuart Jeffries from Landscapes of the mind, “Artistic revolution often takes place in those countries weighed down by restrictions…”. With Iran being contained by such a strong and dominant religious laws, problems can only build up. Only time will tell if a new revolution will take place with the people of Iran revenging their rights for freedom of expression.
People of Iran are challenged with the fact that they lose the fundamental right of freedom of expression. How is an artist supposed to breathe under the conditions that the government has put on them? The answer to that is they can’t, without breaking any laws or the council scratching out every artistic idea. Ayatollah Khomeini goals have caused a major reversal of Iran’s society. From being allies with the West and reforming the country to a pro-western society with freedom of expression on the horizon to a pure Islamic Country. Where the religion dictates how people are supposed to live their lives. In the words of Stuart Jeffries from Landscapes of the mind, “Artistic revolution often takes place in those countries weighed down by restrictions…”. With Iran being contained by such a strong and dominant religious laws, problems can only build up. Only time will tell if a new revolution will take place with the people of Iran revenging their rights for freedom of expression.
Works Cited
BBC News. BBC,
n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2013.
Jeffries, Stuart. "Landscapes of
the Mind." The Guardian. N.p.,
16 Apr. 2005. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
H Naficy, ‘Islamicising Film Culture in Iran: A Post-Khatami
Update’, in R Tapper (ed.), The New
Iranian Cinema: Politics Representation and Identity( London: IB Tauris,
2002), 27.
Siavoshi, Sussan. "Cultural
Policies and the Islamic Republic: Cinema and Book Publications." Int.J Middle East Stud. 29 (1997): n.
pag. Web.
Callamard, Dr. Agnes .”Unvieled:
Art and Censorship in Iran”. Article19.org,.
Article 19 MENA Programme, 25 Sept. 2006. Web. 10 Mar. 2013
Dear Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting report on a very interesting topic. I'm glad to see that you were able to incorporate credible sources to give your audience a clear idea of the situation regarding the evolution of censorship in Iran--certainly not an easy topic to navigate. Well done! I have some advice for revision. Examine each of your paragraphs and make sure that you have TEA in each. Some of your paragraphs lack the claim/topic sentence that focuses your reader on your main point. You have good evidence, but some of the vague topic sentences take away from your research. Another thing to watch in your writing: pronouns. When you say "he," instead of using the proper noun, you risk confusing or losing the reader. This is especially true when you have two males in your topic. Use their last name instead of a pronouns on all second reference, with the occasional "he" for variety, but only when your topic sentence makes absolutely clear which "he" you are referring to. This was a great read. Thanks!