Comparative Thematic Analysis of the Madahi's of the 8-Year Imposed War, the 12-Day War, and the Ramadan War

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Social Science, Tabriz University, Tabriz., Iran.

2 Master's student of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabatabae'i University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract
The present study aims to conduct a comparative thematic analysis of the eulogies (madahi) from three periods—the 8‑year Imposed War (1980–1988), the 12‑Day War (2025), and the Ramadan War (2025–2026)—and to provide a sociological explanation of the evolution of these themes. The research method employs Braun and Clarke's six‑phase thematic analysis, and the theoretical framework is Karl Mannheim's sociology of knowledge. The data consist of 24 elegies (nawḥeh) from the three aforementioned periods (7 from the 8‑year Imposed War, 7 from the 12‑Day War, and 10 from the Ramadan War). The findings indicate that the core themes of the 8‑year Imposed War are: the analogy of war to Karbala, the sanctification of martyrdom, and the idealization of Islamic Iran. The core themes of the 12‑Day War are: the analogy of war to Khaybar, vengeance, and the annihilation of Israel. The core themes of the Ramadan War are: national‑religious identity, resistance and defiance, and the immediate destruction of the enemy. The conclusion is that these eulogies are not mirror‑like reflections of events; rather, they are ideological and situation‑bound formulations of reality, produced and reproduced in an indissoluble connection with the existential condition of a segment of Iranian society in each period. The transformation from martyrdom to vengeance, from Karbala to Khaybar, from Imam Hussain (AS) to Haydar (AS), and from a border‑based enemy to multiple enemies, reflects a shift in the collective consciousness and the contemporary situation of Iran.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 22 August 2026

  • Receive Date 13 May 2026
  • Revise Date 17 August 2026
  • Accept Date 22 August 2026
  • First Publish Date 22 August 2026
  • Publish Date 22 August 2026