Ta zia, a Media (A Survey of Communicative Components and Functions of Ta zia)

Leaders of religions and schools have had innovative means to communicate with their proponents and develop their religious knowledge. Shia leaders have been no exception. Doubtless, in an age devoid of mass media, the propagation of religious messageswas possible only through preaching. This kind of limitation led the Shia to innovate a new media, known as Ta’zia (a form of passion play), in order to consolidate its religious and ritual communication. Ta’zia soon reached a prominent place among the masses. Itsformation, historically speaking, was however a gradual process, which took centuries of ups and downs. In this effective ritual, communicative components such as color, voice and motion play a conspicuous role next to other various functions. In this article wehave tried to show the communicative components and functions of Ta’zia as a traditional media used by the Shia. Library research has been the basis of this study.