Journal of Documentary and Archival Studies
Scientific Journal

The Transformation of Iran’s Cultural and Social Life: A Case Study during World War II

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

hosein rohani sadr 1
Abdollag Sajedi 2
nezamali dehnavi 3

1 PhD student in the history of Iran after Islam, History Department, Payam Noor University. Tehran. Iran

2 Assistant Professor and Faculty Member, Department of History, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of History, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

10.30481/psa.2025.555840.1104
Abstract
The cultural and social transformation of Iran during the Second World War (1939–1945) can be regarded as one of the key moments in the country’s transition from tradition to modernity. This study, employing a historical-analytical method and based on documentary and press materials, seeks to answer the following question: How did the Allied presence in Iran lead to a redefinition of the country’s cultural and social structures? The hypothesis of the research posits that although the military occupation of Iran and direct contact with foreign forces constrained the nation’s political sovereignty, it nevertheless generated a structural dynamism within educational institutions, the media, and patterns of urban lifestyle at the social and cultural levels. Analysis of the data indicates that the Second World War provided the conditions for the emergence of a new discourse of cultural modernization and the reconfiguration of social relations—a discourse in which concepts such as literacy, urban order, the role of women in society, and the very notion of “progress” were redefined. Consequently, this period may be viewed as a turning point in the cultural history of Iran, one that accelerated the country’s passage from tradition toward modernity.

Keywords

World War II
Cultural Transformations
Social Institutions
Culture

Subjects

Journal of Documentary and Archival Studies

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 14 December 2025

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