Hegemonicization of Progressivism Discourse (Jadidism) in “Bukhara Sharif” Newspaper

Although Central Asia’s entry into the modern world in the nineteenth / thirteenth centuries was late in comparison with its neighbors, like all of them it was after the first military defeats against colonialism. In this region, the decline and backwardness of the Muslims occurred and then their astonishment was added step by step. Here was the point of intellectuals birth, which was then called “Jadidi”. They used to call their traditional and conservative rivals Qadimi (those who were bounded to their old ideas). Jadidi intellectuals who, as a result of their deep understanding of the extent of social, scientific, and cultural backwardness, and at the same time acquaintance with the accelerating and progressive Western civilization, understood the need for reform in all areas, had faced the dominant and hegemonic discourse of” Qadimism”. This group had many resources; one of the most important of these was its influence among the masses and finding a justified base among them. Jadidists who had found the origin of their intellectual thoughts outside their homeland borders needed to utilize internal resources to influence a society that was in transition from traditional to modernism otherwise they would be lost in the competition. The press was one of these tools in the service of Modernists throughout the modern world that the Qadimists had no interest in it and they forbade its reading.  Although the only official newspaper of Bukhara was published with great risk, it provided the group with an unparalleled opportunity to introduce its semantic system (which included sub-concepts and intellectual elements) to new masses and by strengthening it, made their thoughts dominant. The present article is investigating this ambiguity and wants to study how this happened? In other words, the question is, “How does the Jadidists, despite the consolidation of the (old) discourse, made its semantic system hegemonic by using tools like the press?”
In the present article, while avoiding entering into the usual discussion of new and old lawsuits and positive and negative judgments about them, we examine the issue how does Jadidism, despite the establishment and objectivity of the ruling (old) discourse, use the press to make its semantic system hegemonic? In order to come up with a comprehensive and accurate answer, we need a theoretical framework for pulling such a system out of the only Bukharas Newspaper and the most important official news agency, Bukharaye sharif. Therefore, we apply the Laclau and Mouffe discourse theory, which is highly effective in the context of the conflict between different political forces in society, and is useful in categorizing concepts and creating rational order in textual research. Our initial answer is Jadidi’s newspaper writers while being aware of the state of the world and adhering to the original Islamic tradition, in an effort to awaken the religious wisdom of the masses, marginalized the rival semantic system that emphasized indigenous religious traditions and took steps to establish themselves.
The newspaper, as a tool that had a wide-ranging influence and was able to operate in extremely fragile conditions, attempted to go through this process by producing specific contents in three layers: First, to introduce the components of the semantic system and to represent its relation to the focal thought (nodal point).(The purpose of this section is to evoke the feelings of the audiences), another way is to highlight the concepts of backwardness (critique of the status-quo and description of the desirability) and religionism (aimed at provoking the audience sentiments). The above concepts are highlighted to enter into the field of competition with the dominant discourse in the newspaper. The third layer is making “the other” and marginalization of rival discourse. The method of presenting the semantic system is such that in order to reinforce the central idea of (religious progress) a set of sub-concepts are repeated in each article. In a way that was mentioned, the evolution and the changes of the world, it extends to Bukhara and raises a critique of society. In the next step, he points out the need for improvement, first using persuasive verses and arguments to persuade readers, then argue with them, and finally urging them to move on in order to avoid laziness, learn new sciences and industries and rid themselves of ignorance and backwardness. The crucial point is that throughout this process, it also wisely reads out the religious texts, meaning that by trying to redefine the Islamic texts and emphasize religious wisdom, it seeks to pull out of it an ordinance for living world and bring about social change. Religion-based progress as the theme of a Jadidists desire, for its consistency has some sub-concepts that reinforce it. These include scientism, rationality, education, and avoiding laziness. The theme that is constantly repeated is that religion not only did not forbid the sciences that make the Muslim world happy, but also encourages it. In rationalism, it emphasizes that religion has led them to reason. For education, concepts of teacher and school are redefined according to the Islamic traditions and are compared to the status quo. For avoiding laziness, it was considered a disaster for the Muslim world and investigates its causes. Aware of the world situation and adhering to the original Islamic tradition, the new writers of the newspaper, while trying to awaken the religious wisdom of the people, pushed aside the rival semantic system that emphasized indigenous religious traditions and destiny and took steps to establish themselves.
After the publication of 153 issues of Bukhara Sharif, the tsarist government representative in Bukhara saw that the newspaper was publishing reformist notions not only in Bukhara but throughout Central Asia. It shows that Jadidits were successful in their ways, so under the name of Bukhara emir, they closed the newspaper in 1913 when its material and spiritual powers had reached its perfection. Due to the importance of this important cultural event, today Tajiks call the first day of its publishing the Press Day in their country.