Critical Discourse Analysis of Spirituality in Texts of a Spiritual Art Exhibition Based on Fairclough's Approach

The "Spiritual Art Exhibition," held in 2005, marks one of the earliest official endeavors to redefine spirituality within the context of contemporary Iranian art. Recognizing that written texts in art exhibitions reflect the foundational ideas underpinning the artworks, their analysis provides a pathway to a deeper understanding of the events shaping this artistic landscape. This research, employing Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), aims to identify the discourses that construct the concept of spirituality in contemporary Iranian art through the linguistic, contextual, and ideological analysis of selected texts. The central questions guiding this study are: 1. What concepts and linguistic-semantic features encompass "spirituality" in the texts of the "Spiritual Art Exhibition"? 2. How are power, ideology, and cultural identity reflected through the utilization of the concept of spirituality in the exhibition's texts?

The research corpus comprises three pivotal texts authored by Imani, Fadavi, and Kafshchian-Moghaddam, published in the exhibition's catalog. A descriptive-analytical methodology, grounded in a qualitative approach to Critical Discourse Analysis, was employed for the study.

The analysis of Imani's text reveals a dominant discourse of religious spirituality firmly rooted in the framework of Islam. The author employs positive evaluative language, powerful metaphors, and an emphasis on the innate nature of spirituality to promote this perspective.



Fadavi's text foregrounds a discourse of religious- mystical spirituality, positioning the artist as a mystic and artistic creation as a mystical journey. This viewpoint is legitimized through mystical vocabulary, metaphors, and a contrast with non-spiritual art.

Kafshchian-Moghaddam's text presents a discourse of individual and Gnostic spirituality, emphasizing the artist's intuition as the primary source of meaning and spirituality. This alternative discourse is established through diverse vocabulary, metaphors, and semantic oppositions.

The study further demonstrates the intricate interplay of power, ideology, and cultural identity within these discourses. Institutional power is evident in Imani's text through the presentation of an official viewpoint aligned with the dominant cultural-religious system. Fadavi's text delineates discursive boundaries, while Kafshchian-Moghaddam's text highlights the agency of the individual artist. Diverse ideologies, ranging from established religious spirituality to mystical and individualistic interpretations, are reflected in the texts, each seeking to promote its specific understanding. Implicitly, Iranian cultural identity is engaged in all three texts, with references to Islamic heritage, mystical traditions, and the evolving landscape of religious experience in Iran.

In conclusion, the "Spiritual Art Exhibition" and its accompanying texts served as a platform for competing discourses on the relationship between art and spirituality in contemporary Iran. These texts illustrate that the concept of spirituality in Iranian art is a dynamic entity, continually being reshaped and redefined under the influence of power dynamics, ideological frameworks, and cultural shifts. The diverse authors, drawing upon their unique intellectual and linguistic resources, strive to articulate and establish their particular understanding of this relationship. This research underscores the efficacy of Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis in unveiling the underlying ideological layers and power relations within these texts, thereby fostering a deeper comprehension of the evolving conceptualizations of spirituality in contemporary Iranian art.