The Realization of the Binary Opposition of Cosmos/Chaos in the Visual Properties of the Iran Newspaper during the Nasserid Period

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate of Art Research, Faculty of Higher Art Research and Entrepreneurship, Art University of Isfahan. Isfahan, Iran.

2 Assistant Prof, Graphic Design Department, Faculty of Visual Arts, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

3 Associate Prof, Department of Philosophy of Art, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan.

Abstract

 
Cosmos and Chaos are among the most significant dialectical binary oppositions in Lotman's semiotic theory, revealing a systematic relationship between signs and either culture or non-culture. The historical background of this opposition traces back to ancient Greek thought, where it was believed that the gods transformed chaos into order and beauty. Plato attributed this concept to the Demiurge, who, through contemplation of the realm of ideals, symbolically organized the chaotic material world. In Lotman's Cultural Semiotics, the concept of order elucidates the established characteristics of culture as collective memory raising awareness, while chaos emerges when the system experiences discontinuity and fragmentation. This state may be rectified through a process where structured memory allows the elements that caused chaos to be integrated and conceptually understood within the system. It therefore enables the gradual emergence of new concepts within culture and society. The publication of the first Persian newspapers during the Qajar period, resulting from intercultural interactions, initiated a new phase of cultural transformations in Iran. The encounter with an unfamiliar cultural environment, represented in newspapers, is recognized as a major source of chaos within the Iranian Semiosphere. Consequently, it is supposed that the visual characteristics of newspapers from this era, regarded as a semiotic space, were influenced by this chaos, reflecting efforts to establish a new visual representation that could meet the practical demands of publication. However, with the political and social changes during the later years of Nasir al-Din Shah's reign, the publication of newspapers also transformed, facing new challenges and forms of "chaos". The launch of the "Iran" newspaper marked the beginning of a new era of visual transformations in newspapers of this time. This research investigates how the signs of cultural cosmos and chaos emerged in the semiotic sphere of the press during Nasir al-Din Shah's reign, analyzing the visual characteristics of the "Iran" newspaper based on this binary opposition. To this end, the study presents an analytical model for understanding the dynamics of the binary opposition of cosmos/chaos within a semiotic sphere, elucidating the visual characteristics of this newspaper while addressing two primary questions: First, how does the interaction between cosmos and chaos within a semiotic sphere facilitate the comprehensibility of cultural elements? Second, how is this binary opposition reflected in the visual characteristics of the "Iran" newspaper? This paper is exploratory in nature and employs a descriptive-analytical methodology, utilizing Lotman’s cultural semiotics approach. Data were gathered from documentary sources, and research samples were selected purposefully from all the issues of the "Iran" newspaper. The findings indicate that the visual characteristics of the "Iran" newspaper were established through a historical process resulting from the interplay between cosmos and chaos in the broader semiotic sphere of Iran. In this evolution, certain prior norms were prioritized over others, and a new standard was constructed by confronting a cultural other in the publication of the “Iran” newspaper. Consequently, it achieved a hybrid identity formed through engagement with the cultural other and amalgamation with self-referential cultural patterns.

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References

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Journal of Fine Arts: Visual Arts
Volume 30, Issue 4
October 2025
Pages 19-36

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