''Al Tatawwur'' (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: تطور; ''The Development'') was an Arabic language literary and cultural magazine published in Egypt in the period January–July 1940. It was the first avant-garde,

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

and Marxist-libertarian publication in the Arab world.

History and profile

''Al Tatawwur'' was started by a radical leftist group called

Art et Liberté Groupe Art et Liberté ( ar, جماعة الفن والحرية; English: Art and Liberty Group, Art and Freedom Group) was an Egyptian artistic and political movement active from 1938 to 1948, about the time of the Second World War. Among th ...

or al fann wa al hurriyya (Arts and Freedom in English) in 1940, and the first issue appeared in January that year. The founder of the group was Kamel Telmissany which supported the revolutionary imagination and social freedom and had an anti-colonial stance. ''Al Tatawwur'' was the successor of another magazine entitled ''

Al Majalla Al Jadida ''Al Majalla Al Jadida'' (Arabic: الجديدة المجلة; ''The New Magazine'') was an Arabic language socialist and avant-garde cultural and literary magazine which existed between 1929 and 1944 with a two-year interruption. Being an early ...

'' which was established by

Salama Moussa Salama Moussa (or Musa; 1887 – 4 August 1958) ( ar, سلامه موسى , ) was an Egyptian journalist, writer and political theorist. Salama Moussa was an avowed secularist, he introduced the writings of Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud to ...

and published between 1929 and 1944. The editor of ''Al Tatawwur'' was a surrealist intellectual, Anwar Kamel. He declared the goals of the magazine in the first issue as follows: "to defend the freedom of art and culture, to spread modern literary works, and to Egyptian youth with international literary, artistic, and social movements." The first issue also featured Arabic translations of the poems by the French surrealist

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

. During its short lifetime ''Al Tatawwur'' frequently covered topics such as prostitution, sex and women's sexual freedom. The articles on women's sexual freedom were mostly written by Abdul Hamid Al Hadadi. Other contributor was Faisal Abdul Rahman Shahbander.

Ramses Younan Ramses Younan (رمسيس يونان ; Minya, 1913 – Cairo, 1966), was an Egyptian painter and writer. He work is most commonly associated with the Art and Liberty Group, a Cairo-based surrealist collective of artists, writers, intellectuals an ...

, a painter and writer, published art critics in the magazine. ''Al Tatawwur'' was published on a monthly basis until July 1940 when it folded after producing seven issues. The magazine was closed down by the Egyptian authorities. Following the closure of ''Al Tatawwur'' its editor Anwar Kamel was jailed due to his writings published in the magazine.

External links

List of avant-garde magazines This is a list of magazines which contain avant-garde material and content. Notable avant-garde magazines include: {{Compact ToC, center=yes, align=center, top=no, num=yes, refs=yes, e=E, i=I, u=U, y=Y, z=Z 0–9 *'' 3:AM Magazine'' (2000–), ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatawwur 1940 establishments in Egypt 1940 disestablishments in Egypt Arabic-language magazines Avant-garde magazines Banned magazines Censorship in Egypt Defunct literary magazines published in Egypt Defunct political magazines published in Egypt Libertarian Marxism Magazines established in 1940 Magazines disestablished in 1940 Magazines published in Cairo Monthly magazines published in Egypt Marxist magazines Surrealist magazines