Discourse Analysis of AIDS Representation in Iranian Cinema: The Case of Barefoot in Paradise

The purpose of this article is study discourse analysis of AIDS representation in Iranian film industry, so we have studied an Iranian movie, “Barefoot in Paradise”, as a case study. For this purpose, we have used Althusser’s concept of ideology and its effects on Laclau and Mouffe, and Cindy Patton’s concept of “AIDS invention”, and we have reviewed bio-medical and bio-medical-socio-psychological discourses. Finally we have tried to analyze the semantic structure of AIDS in the discourses existed in the movie. Two rival discourses have been recognized in this movie by using Laclau and Mouffe’s methodology, which are in semantic and semiotics discussions. The central signifier of one of these discourses is that the patient affected by Aids is guilty and another one emphasizes that these patients are human and interacts with them from this point of view. These kinds of semantic oppositions show that there are lots of conflicts in the areas of health and medicine and also indicate that many discourse oppositions will be formed when we react upon a disease. Finally, although discourses are challenged in this movie, it is the main stream.