The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Critical Discourse Analysis of Coffeehouse Painting in the Representation of National Identity (Based on Norman Fairclough’s Model)

https://doi.org/10.22034/bagh.2026.579452.6012
Volume 23, Issue 160
October 2026
Pages 19-28
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Parisa Golaghaei 1
Javad Aghajani Keshteli 1
Mahmoud Ashari 2
Hojat Amani 3

1 Department of Arts Studies, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Science and Art, Yazd, Iran

2 Department of Handicrafts, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Painting, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
Problem statement: As a popular art school, Iranian Coffeehouse Painting transferred artistic expression from the exclusive domain of the royal court and elite classes into the public sphere, thereby playing a significant role in shaping collective consciousness and representing national identity. Despite its cultural significance, however, the discursive potential of this artistic tradition has received limited scholarly attention. Accordingly, the present study seeks to explain how the various dimensions of national identity are constructed and represented within Coffeehouse paintings.
Research objective: This study aims to analyze the role of Coffeehouse Painting in the construction of national identity and to examine the visual mechanisms through which it interacted with the artistic and cultural discourses of its time.
Research method: This research is fundamental in terms of purpose and adopts a descriptive–analytical approach. The theoretical framework is based on Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), employing its three analytical dimensions -description, interpretation, and explanation. Four representative works of Iranian Coffeehouse Painting were purposively selected and analyzed within this framework.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that Coffeehouse Painting functioned not merely as an aesthetic practice but also as an ideological and discursive act. By rejecting both Western and courtly aesthetic conventions and relocating artistic expression to the public sphere, Coffeehouse painters articulated an alternative discourse of identity. Through the integration of religious, mythological, and everyday cultural signifiers, they constructed and reinforced a coherent, people-centered conception of national identity that challenged the dominant discourses of their historical context.

Keywords

National identity
Iranian Coffeehouse Painting
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
Norman Fairclough
Visual discourse.
Subjects
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