Discourses of Tradition and Modernity in the Mashhad Press during the Constitutional Era: Representing the Political, Social, and Economic Discourses through a Foucauldian Lens

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Mohammad Ali Alizadeh ¹

Ebrahim Hafezi ²

Abolfazl Hasanabadi ³

¹ Associate Professor, Department of History and Civilization of Muslim Nations, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

² PhD Candidate, Department of History and Civilization of Muslim Nations, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

³ PhD in History, Department of History and Civilization of Muslim Nations, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/jhistory.2026.97955.1440

Abstract

The Iranian Constitutional Revolution (1285-1304 A.S./1906-1925 A.D.) was a major arena for the contest between the discourses of tradition and modernity. The present article studies the ways in which these two discourses were represented in the press of Mashhad. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of “power/knowledge,” the study employs qualitative discourse analysis to examine six prominent newspapers from Mashhad: Khurshīd, Bishārat, Ṭūs, Sharq-i Īrān, Jahān-i Zanān, and Bahār. The sample under study consists of 175 key texts (articles and editorials) from the Constitutional period. Findings indicate that the press in Mashhad did not merely reflect the news. Rather, they functioned as forces of “technology of power” and redefined concepts such as “law,” “freedom,” “justice,” and “national identity.” Through various discursive strategies (such as the synthesis of religious and modern concepts or the construction of new forms of subjectivity) these media outlets sought to break the traditional order of discourse and construct a new subject (the informed citizen). The study illustrates that a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis can uncover the hidden mechanisms through which truth was produced in the Constitutional era press and shed light on the active role of the media in society’s transition to modernity.

Keywords

Iranian Constitutionalism

Mashhad Press

Discourse of Modernity

Discourse of Tradition

Foucauldian Discourse Analysis

Subjects

• Other

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