Iranian Journal of Sociology

Abstract Focusing on the representation of "the people" in key cinematic works of the second Pahlavi period, this article investigates how the populace was represented in Iranian New Wave cinema during the 1940s and 1950s [the 1340s and 1350s SH decades]. Grounded in the dual theoretical framework of representation/reflection and shaping within the sociology of art, and employing a qualitative content analysis of fifteen landmark films by five defining directors of the Iranian New Wave, the paper examines a wide spectrum of theoretical readings regarding Iranian people's agency through these cinematic representations. Regardless of the breadth of these representations—spanning a continuum from "self-conscious and creative people" to "alienated and passive people"—the study demonstrates that the reflection of the populace in these cinematic works has been constructed primarily around two central identities of class and religion. Most films depict the people as alienated, unawakened, and passive.

Abstract This paper seeks to analyze new forms of alienation in the postmodern era. To this end, following an explanation of “postmodern era” and theories generated in this era, concepts of "alienation" and "postmodern alienation" will be explored. Finally, an explanation is offered of the genesis of “postmodern alienation”. This paper argues that in postmodern era the concept of “difference” became the most central theme in both social theories and new social movements. By questioning modern meta-narratives, postmodernism sought to recognize the particular, the marginal and the cultural. In this era, theorizing about the concept of “difference” was simultaneous with blacks, women, postcolonial and other social movements. Focus on “difference,” however, resulted in the emergence of forms of knowledge and consciousness incapable of acknowledging similarities with others. Consequently, “postmodern alienation” prevents both social theories and social movements from understanding the logic of neoliberal capitalism and its ties with cultural postmodernism.