Allameh Tabatab’i and Evolution of the Signifier of Freedom in the Discourse of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution

For the first time attempts have been made in this article to study the role of Allameh Tabatab’i in the evolution of the signifier of “freedom” meant in the discourse of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Discourse analysis has been employed in this research. Attempts have made to answer the following two questions: 1 – What is the role of Allamaeh Tabatab’i’s thought in the evolution of the signifier of freedom in Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution? 2 – What is the social mechanism of diffusion of Allameh Tabatab’i’s thought in connection with the discourse of the Islamic Revolution? The findings of this research show that although Allameh Tabatab’i lacked political strategy in the arena of revolution, he played a direct role (production of texts) and in an indirect role (through his disciples, intellectual circles and discursive communities) in the evolution of the signifier of freedom of the Islamic Revolution. In order to explain Allameh Tabatab’i’s direct role, Ernesto Laclau and ChantalMouffe’s discourse theory was used, and, in order to show his indirect role, that is, explanation of social mechanisms of connection between Allameh’s thought and the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, Foucault, Vesna Pusić and Rudolf Kalin’s theories were used. The findings of the paper indicate that Allameh, by reviving the agency position of “philosopher interpreter” and by focusing on conventional conception, participated in discursive debates from 1950s to 1970s and played a direct or indirect role of political agency in the discursive evolution of the three components (a. rejection of the hegemony of arrogance; b. freedom within the framework of Islam; and, c. criticism of freedom in the discourse of Western democracy) of the signifier of freedom meant in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution.