Genealogy of Imam Khomeini's Revolutionary Discourse:Tracing discontinuity in different periods of Imam Khomeini' Shoulds and Shouldn'ts

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

This research deals with the genealogy of power in Imam Khomeini's Revolutionary Discourse. Genealogy, in the current study, means tracing discontinuity among historical periods of this discourse separated and labeled as “Before Exile”, “Exile”, “Paris”, “Qom” and “Tehran”. The subject of this genealogy is the body of Imam Khomeini's early writings and speeches in his Revolutionary Discourse. This means the discourse of the will to power or ideology of change that was indexed with Shoulds and Shouldn'ts in writings and speeches of the Leader of Revolution. The study was conducted at the statistical population level. The statistical population was a sum of 4338 sentences consisting of Shoulds and Shouldn'ts.  The data were analyzed to test and answer the research questions, as well as investigate the relationship between the variation of support, goal, structure, addressee, refer, impresa and content, as variables of discourse and variation of historical periods. First, variables were given values with grounded method. Then, considering the theoretical considerations, values recoded to make possible the statistical tests: Chi Square and contingency coefficient. The results showed that there was a strong relationship between variation in periods and variations in variables of discourse. “Revolutionary Discourse”, thus, is dissimilar in each period. This means “Discontinuity of Discourse” in its theoretical outcome. In practical outcome, many different groups can claim similarity in discourses with this discourse, because of the internal discontinuity of it.
 

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