An investigation into the cinematic representation of hegemonic spaces in 1960s and 1970s Iranian Rural Films

Abstract

This project examines the cinematic representation of hegemonic spaces in the films produced in Iran during the 1960s and 1970s. It argues that, unlike other historiographies in this field, it is possible to observe the effects of the capitalist mode of production in the cinematic production of hegemonic spaces. The thesis draws on Gramsci, Williams and other Marxist theorists to situate cinematic representations in their social and historical context. Also, this project discusses the historical blocs in that period, the role of organic intellectuals in the production of counter-hegemonic currents and the transformation of the subaltern and its cinematic representation in the film production of the aforementioned period. In this way, the representation of hegemonic spaces such as work places, farms, medical centers, schools, etc., according to the various types of cinematic frameworks, is critically examined. The project traces in films the significant transformation of hegemonic processes of incorporation from residual and alternative practices (considering Raymond Williams’s terminology) in the 1960s to emergent and oppositional practices in the 1970s.