Authors

• Shaghayegh Nazarzadeh ¹
• Ali Afkhami ²

¹ Tehran University

² Faculty of Science, Department of Linguistics, University of Tehran

Abstract

        Women in Two Governments:  Discourse Analysis of Women Status   in the Governments of the 1380s     Shaghayegh Nazarzadeh [1]   Ali Afkhami [2]       Received: 2011 /10/22   Accepted: 2012/04/29       Abstract   Based on the theory of Laclau and Mouffe, the present paper attemps to investigate the status of women in two distinctive political discourses of the 1380s. To this end, the first step is to distinguish the two political discourses of the aforementioned period by means of discourse theory. In this period, two political discourses, namely reformist discourse with nodal points of reform, political development, freedom, law, and civil society as well as conservative discourse with nodal points of justice, kindness, progress, mental and physical elevation, and service providing were identified. Examining the signifiers shows that these two discourses are each other’s discursive others and as a result the discrepancies between the two should be seen in other fields as well. Investigating the texts indicated that with a modernist tendency, reformist discourse has women participation as the core of its articulation while the conservative one with its conventional tendency, considers the family orientation as its articulation point. Although both discourses find family orientation as one main signifier, the former views women in light of strengthening their skills, education and awareness, while the latter identifies women with religious beliefs deepening, Hijab and chastity.     Keywords: discourse theory, articulation, hegemony, conservative discourse and reformist discourse.   [1] PhD, Tehran University , sh.nazarzadeh@gmail.com   [2] Full Professor, Linguistics Department, Tehran university. aafkhami@ut.ac.ir

Keywords

• discourse theory
• articulation
• Hegemony
• conservative discourse and reformist discourse