Manifestation, carnival or theater, Framed liberation during political carnival. AHRA Congress, Birmingham, 2019 

​

Abstract: In February 1979, Tehran witnessed one of the most important urban demonstrations resulted in the fall of the Shah Regime and emergence of a Revolutionary Regime that lasts forty years later. Every February during these forty years, an official Parade takes place in the streets of Tehran to commemorate the original event. These Parades have turned into Political Carnivals, representing official values and messages of Regime. Applying the dramaturgical approach reveals that hiding the political struggle in Iran is the main aim of these carnivals. In fact, instead of being just official events, they have become the actual demonstration of complex processes and heterotypic voices of the society. Moreover, an evolution in the image of these Parades is notable which guides us to identify four significant periods of modern Iranian history.

​

Keywords: Tehran (Iran); bodies; political carnival; Anniversary Parade; Power representation