نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسنده English
Introduction: Nabard-e Mellat (Battle of the Nation), a weekly journal founded in 1940 and owned by Amir Abdullah Karbaschian, was officially licensed by the Press Commission of the Ministry of the Interior as a non-political publication devoted to literary, religious, and moral subjects. In practice, however, it proved to be far more militant, confrontational, and politically engaged than most religious and moral periodicals of its time. From the mid-1940s to 1952, Nabard-e Mellat became closely associated with the Islamic-militant discourse of Fadaeian Islam. Following its separation from that organization, it became the official organ of the Khalq Party. Despite its subsequent alignment with governmental discourse, the journal largely preserved its earlier Islamic-militant and semi-nationalist orientation. The Fadaeian Islam Society was established in 1945 under the leadership of Seyyed Mojtaba Navvab Safavi. Its discursive identity, centered on Islamic law as the primary nodal point and on the supremacy and implementation of Islamic principles as its principal signifiers, combined Shiʿi teachings with revolutionary and anti-colonial tendencies. For approximately a decade, until 1955, the organization pursued the goal of establishing an Islamic state. Among its principal concerns were the unity of the Islamic world, the implementation of Shiʿi religious principles, opposition to religious deviation, the struggle against corruption and poverty, resistance to the influence of the Baha’is and followers of Kasravi, criticism of religious authorities who misused their position, opposition to both Western and Eastern colonialism, and resistance to communism. More broadly, it sought the triumph of Islam over global hegemony and imperial domination. The Khalq Party was formed after the 1953 Iranian coup and the fall of Mohammad Mossadegh’s government by Amir Abdullah Karbaschian and several former members of Fadaeian Islam. Although the party retained many of the central signifiers and discursive articulations of Fadaeian Islam, it differed from the organization in certain political positions, particularly in its support for the monarchy and criticism of some actions undertaken by Fadaeian Islam. At the same time, it placed greater emphasis on the signifier of the “nation,” understood as the oppressed Muslim society of Iran, and on resistance to foreign colonialism. Consequently, Islamic and doctrinal issues within Nabard-e Mellat were frequently articulated through semi-nationalist themes.
Purposes & Questions: This study aims to investigate the reflection of the discursive conflicts of Fadaeian Islam and the Khalq Party in the graphic design of Nabard-e Mellat. It seeks to answer the following research question: How did the logo, headline designs, and column graphics of Nabard-e Mellat embody the discursive conflicts of Fadaeian Islam and the Khalq Party in relation to rival political and ideological movements?
Methods: The research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach based on selected concepts from the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, including articulation, antagonism, dislocation, otherness, foregrounding, marginalization, and chains of equivalence. Data were collected through documentary and library research, as well as the purposive selection and examination of visual materials relevant to the study. The qualitative analysis focuses on approximately sixty examples of press graphics published in Nabard-e Mellat between 1940 and 1955. These visual materials were analyzed in relation to the confrontational activities of Fadaeian Islam and the Khalq Party and within their broader historical and socio-political context.
Findings & Results: The findings indicate that the designers and editors of Nabard-e Mellat, drawing upon the discursive equivalence established between the signifiers “Islam” and “Iran,” as well as between “nation” and “Muslim,” sought to expand chains of equivalence with the broader social identity in order to attract and mobilize the widest possible audience. Accordingly, nationalist elements, including the title of the journal itself, were strategically foregrounded in support of an Islamic-militant discourse. During periods of political pressure and marginalization, the visual meanings associated with these signifiers were reinforced and rearticulated. The study further shows that the headline and masthead graphics of Nabard-e Mellat, in both visual appearance and execution, reflected the dominant aesthetic preferences of Iranian society during the 1940s and 1950s, which were significantly influenced by Western graphic design practices. As a result, these graphic forms lacked a distinct visual identity specifically associated with Islamic discourse. Nevertheless, in an effort to establish a chain of equivalence with militant Islamic movements beyond Iran, particularly organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the journal frequently equated the signifier “nation” with the signifier “Ummah.” Consequently, the graphics of its columns, headlines, and advertisements often relied on generalized visual elements rather than imagery with clearly identifiable Iranian characteristics. The analysis demonstrates that the graphic design of Nabard-e Mellat functioned not merely as a vehicle for communication but also as a site of discursive articulation. Through visual strategies of selection, emphasis, and symbolic association, the journal participated in the construction and negotiation of ideological identities. The interaction between Islamic-militant discourse and semi-nationalist themes became visible in the publication’s graphic language, revealing how visual design contributed to the representation, reinforcement, and transformation of political meanings during a period of intense ideological contestation in modern Iran.
کلیدواژهها English
