The Representation of Religious Experience in Iranian Cinema from the Standpoint of Traditional Islamic Discourse; A Discourse Analysis of the Movie

In this paper, the representation of religious experience in Irans cinema is analyzed from the stand point of Islamic tradition discourse, using the representation theory and the discourse analysis approach. In fact, the tradition discourse is known as a discourse which conclusively accepts the religion and the revelationteachings and also “divine wisdom”. Factors such as moral, cognitive issues and ontology are among the criteria for judging the Islamic tradition discourse. These factors have not any conflict with the revelation teachings. Religious experience is also the main principle of this discourse which refers to a special way of connection of the human being with the metaphysics. This connection is visible from two aspects, firstly one s real life who has experienced these connections. Second, one s fantasy based life, in film and cinema in which personal experiences are represented and are made visible to the audience. Spiritual Cinema of Iran as one of the most important visual media has paid attention to represent diverse discourses concerning religious experience. According to this article s original research documents, there are three discourses concerning religious experience in the cinema, which include intellectualism, religious intellectualism and Islamic tradition discourses. This article is concerned with the third discourse and uses it to analyze the movie Zire Noore Mah.