Occidentalism in Iran representations of the West in the Iranian media.

255 Pages·2015·3.221 MB·English

by  Ehsan Bakhshandeh

Bakhshandeh, Ehsan. "Dedication." Occidentalism in Iran: Representations of the West in the
Iranian Media. London: I.B.Tauris, 2015. v–vi. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 18 Jan. 2022. <>.
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Copyright © Ehsan Bakhshandeh 2015. All rights reserved. Further reproduction or distribution is
prohibited without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
I dedicate this book to Professor Mohammad Mehdi Forqni, founder
of Iran’s first College of Communication and outstanding researcher
of journalism and media studies

Bakhshandeh, Ehsan. "List Of Illustrations." Occidentalism in Iran: Representations of the West in
the Iranian Media. London: I.B.Tauris, 2015. viii. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 18 Jan. 2022. <>.
Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 18 January
2022, 22:59 UTC.
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Copyright © Ehsan Bakhshandeh 2015. All rights reserved. Further reproduction or distribution is
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1.1. One definition of Occidentalism using
similar words. Source: author. 14
Figure 6.1. Conservatism triangle of principles. Source: author. 97
Figure 8.1. Front page of Today’s Man weekly newspaper,
7 April 1944. Source: Amin (2001). 127
Figure 8.2. A cartoon from The Fire weekly newspaper,
22 April 1944. Source: Amin (2001). 128
Bakhshandeh, Ehsan. "List Of Tables." Occidentalism in Iran: Representations of the West in the
Iranian Media. London: I.B.Tauris, 2015. ix–x. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 18 Jan. 2022. <>.
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2022, 22:59 UTC.
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1. An Anglo–Persian chronology up to 1925.
Source: Denis Wright, The Persians amongst the English:
Episodes in Anglo-Persian History (London: I.B.Tauris, 1985),
pp. 216–20. 53
Table 7.1. Number of Iranian press and news agencies
in 2007. Source: author. 117
Table 7.2. Number of Iranian press based on publication
period. Source: author. 117
Table 7.3. Number of Iranian press based on distribution
range. Source: author. 118
Table 7.4. Number of employees in the Iranian press and
news agencies. Source: author. 118
Table 7.5. Number of employees in the Iranian press and
news agencies based on gender. Source: author. 118
Table 7.6. Number of employees in the Iranian press and
news agencies based on level of education. Source: author. 119
Table 7.7. Number of employees in the Iranian press and
news agencies based on type of contract. Source: author. 119
x OCCIDENTALISM INIRAN
Table 7.8. Number of employees in the Iranian press and
news agencies based on job experience. Source: author. 119
Table 8.1. Front-page headline issues in major Iranian
newspapers. Source: author. 132
Table 8.2. Editorial issues in major Iranian newspapers.
Source: author. 132
Table 8.3. Foreign news issues in major Iranian newspapers.
Source: author. 133
Table 8.4. Place of the event covered in the news in major
Iranian newspapers. Source: author. 133
Bakhshandeh, Ehsan. "Introduction." Occidentalism in Iran: Representations of the West in
the Iranian Media. London: I.B.Tauris, 2015. 1–8. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 18 Jan. 2022.
<http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9780755609017.0006>.
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2022, 22:59 UTC.
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Copyright © Ehsan Bakhshandeh 2015. All rights reserved. Further reproduction or distribution is
prohibited without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
INTRODUCTION
With the election of Hassan Rouhani as the president of the Islamic
RepublicofIranin2013,ordinaryIraniancitizens’hopesforabetterlife
andrelieffromtheireconomichardshipgrew.Daysbeforetheelections,
mytaxidriverjokedwithme,inthePersianlanguage,that‘Prideresid
be Xantia, Mahdi biya Mahdi Biya’, which literally means the price of
the ‘Pride’, a cheap low-class sedan produced by Iran and sold at about
80 million rials in 2010, had increased to the price of the Xantia, an
expensivehigh-classcarmadebyPeugeotandtradedat200millionrials
in2010,andnowitwastimeforHazratMahdi,thetwelfthShi‘iaImam,
to reappear and come out of hiding (to end injustice and punish
criminals).AfterPresidentRouhani’selectionthesametaxidrivertoldme
that‘RouhaniisgoingtorestorerelationswiththeWestandwecanask
Hazrat Mahdi to remain hidden!’ The driver actually meant conditions
wouldimprove andthere was no need for the Imamtore-appear.
The issue of relations between Iran and the West, particularly the
United States, has always been a hot topic, especially during the
elections in both Iran and the United States. Ronald Reagan won
the 1981 elections and became the fortieth US President shortly after
IranreleasedAmericanhostages.Thirty-twoyearslater,HassanRouhani
became the seventh president of the Islamic Republic of Iran after he
reportedly called, in one of his election campaigns in the Sharif
University of Technology, for direct talks with the United States as
‘Americansaretheso-calledKadkhoda[chiefofthevillage],therefore,if
we deal with the Kadkhoda, it would be easier for us to deal with
someonewithalowerposition.’1Helaterdeniedtheremarksbuthada