The Role of Identity-making Processes of Intellectuality in the Development of Iranian Public Sphere; A Typology of Intellectuals

Using 1- Habermass approach to public sphere and intellectuals functions in the development of public sphere and 2- a documentary-historical methodology and 3- a reading of social changes of the last 200 years of Iranian history that has taken place under the role of intellectuals, This paper examines a) the function of critiques as a skills used by the intellectuals and b) the role of Iranian intellectuals in the development of public sphere and transformation of the traditional life-world to the modern life-world. This examination is done based on 1- a study of historical texts pertained to 200 years of contemporary Iranian History; 2- in addition to results of intensive interviews with a number of contemporary generation of Iranian intellectuals. The content of the interviews will not be discussed here in order to save the space for the combined analysis of the results of interviews and documentary studies. Regardless of the theoretical and methodological consideration mentioned above, it is maintained here that this paper will explain the function of Iranian intellectual discourses for transformation of Iranian traditional public sphere to a modern one. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of communication in providing a new typology of Iranian intellectuals that we identified using the discursive indices that each generation of intellectuals has produced. This typology is especially important because it helps us to understand the historical specificities of Iranian public sphere.