Seyyed Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad ( fa, جلال آلاحمد; December 2, 1923September 9, 1969) was a prominent
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian novelist, short-story writer, translator, philosopher, socio-political critic,
sociologist, as well as an
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
who was "one of the earliest and most prominent of contemporary Iranian
ethnographers
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
". He popularized the term ''
gharbzadegi'' – variously translated in English as "westernstruck", "westoxification", and "Occidentosis" –,
[ producing a holistic ideological critique of the West "which combined strong themes of Frantz Fanon and Marx".
]
Personal life
Jalal was born in Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, into a religious family – his father was a cleric – "originally from the village of Aurazan in the Taliqan district bordering Mazandaran in northern Iran
Northern Iran consists of the southern border of the Caspian Sea and the Alborz mountains.
It includes the provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan. (Ancient kingdom of Hyrcania, medieval region of Tabaristan). The major provinces, Gilan ...
, and in due time Jalal was to travel there, exerting himself actively for the welfare of the villagers and devoting to them the first of his anthropological monographs". He was a cousin of Mahmoud Taleghani
Sayyid Mahmoud Alaee Taleghani ( fa, محمود طالقانی, , also Romanized as Seyed Mahmūd Tāleqānī; 5 March 1911 – 9 September 1979) was an Iranian theologian, Muslim reformer, democracy advocate and a senior Shi'a Islamic Scholar ...
. After elementary school Al-e-Ahmad was sent to earn a living in the Tehran bazaar, but also attended Marvi Madreseh for a religious education, and without his father's permission, night classes at the Dar ul-Fonun. He went to Seminary of Najaf in 1944 but returned home very quickly. He became "acquainted with the speech and words of Ahmad Kasravi" and was unable to commit to the clerical career his father and brother had hoped he would take, describing it as "a snare in the shape of a cloak and an aba." He describes his family as a religious family in the autobiographical sketch that published after his death in 1967.
In 1946 he earned an M.A. in Persian literature
Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
from Tehran Teachers College and became a teacher, at the same time making a sharp break with his religious family that left him "completely on his own resources." He pursued academic studies further and enrolled in a doctoral program of Persian literature
Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
at Tehran University
The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...
but quit before he had defended his dissertation in 1951. In 1950, he married Simin Daneshvar
Simin Dāneshvar ( fa, سیمین دانشور) (28 April 1921 – 8 March 2012) was an Iranian academic, novelist, fiction writer and translator.
She was largely regarded as the first major Iranian woman novelist. Her books dealt with the ...
, a well-known Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
. Jalal and Simin were infertile, a topic that was reflected in some of Jalal's works.
He died in Asalem, a rural region in the north of Iran, inside a cottage which was built almost entirely by himself. He was buried in Firouzabadi mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
in Ray, Iran. Commons and his wife, Simin, believe he was poisoned by SAVAK
SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prime ...
.
In 2010, the Tehran Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department bought the house in which both Jalal Al-e Ahmad and his brother Shams were born and lived.
Political life
Gharbzadegi: "Westoxification"
Al-e-Ahmad is perhaps most famous for using the term Gharbzadegi, originally coined by Ahmad Fardid
Seyyed Ahmad Fardid ( fa, سید احمد فردید) (Born in 1910, Yazd – 16 August 1994, Tehran), born Ahmad Mahini Yazdi, was a prominent Iranian philosopher and a professor of Tehran University. He is considered to be among the philosop ...
and variously translated in English as weststruckness, westoxification and occidentosis - in a book by the same name ''Occidentosis: A Plague from the West'', self-published by Al-e Ahmad in Iran in 1962. In the book Al-e-Ahmad developed a "stinging critique of western technology, and by implication of Western `civilization` itself". He argued that the decline of traditional Iranian industries such as carpet-weaving were the beginning of Western "economic and existential victories over the East."[Brumberg, ''Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran'', University of Chicago Press, 2001, p.65] His criticism of Western technology and mechanization was influenced, through Ahmad Fardid
Seyyed Ahmad Fardid ( fa, سید احمد فردید) (Born in 1910, Yazd – 16 August 1994, Tehran), born Ahmad Mahini Yazdi, was a prominent Iranian philosopher and a professor of Tehran University. He is considered to be among the philosop ...
, by Heidegger, and he also considered Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...
as another seminal philosophical influence. There was also Ernst Jünger, to whom Jalal ascribe a major part in the genealogy of his famous book, and he goes on to say "Junger and I were both exploring more or less the same subject, but from two viewpoints. We were addressing the same question, but in two languages." Throughout the twelve chapters of the essay, Al-e Ahmad defines gharbzadegi as a contagious disease, lists its initial symptoms and details its etiology, diagnoses local patients, offers prognosis for patients in other localities, and consults with other specialists to suggest a rather hazy antidote.
His message was embraced by the Ayatollah Khomeini, who wrote in 1971 that "The poisonous culture of imperialism
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
spenetrating to the depths of towns and villages throughout the Muslim world, displacing the culture of the Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
, recruiting our youth en masse to the service of foreigners and imperialists..."
and became part of the ideology of the 1979 Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, which emphasized nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of industry, independence in all areas of life from both the Soviet and the Western world, and "self-sufficiency" in economics. He was also one of the main influences of Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), .
Discourse of authenticity
Ali Mirsepasi
Ali Mirsepassi (born 1950) is an Iranian-American sociologist and political scientist and Albert Gallatin Research Excellence Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private re ...
believes that Al-e Ahmad is concerned with the discourse of authenticity along with Shariati. According to Mirsepasi, Jalal extended his critiques of the hegemonic power of west. The critique is centered on the concept of westoxication. Al-e Ahmad attacks secular intellectual with the concept. He believes that the intellectuals could not construct effectively an authentically Iranian modernity. In this occasion, he posed the concept of “return” to an Islamic culture which is authentic at the same time. Al-e Ahmad believed for avoiding the homogenizing and alienating forces of modernity, it is necessary to return to roots of Islamic culture. In fact, Al Ahmad wanted to reimagine modernity with Iranian-Islamic tradition.
Political activism
Al-e-Ahmad joined the communist Tudeh Party along with his mentor Khalil Maleki
Khalil Maleki ( fa, خلیل ملکی; 1901–1969) was an Iranian socialist political figure and intellectual affiliated with the National Front. Political career and activities
During the early 1940s, Maleki had been one of 53 left-wing intelle ...
shortly after World War II. They "were too independent for the party" and resigned in protest over the lack of democracy and the "nakedly pro-Soviet" support for Soviet demands for oil concession and occupation of Iranian Azerbaijan. They formed an alternative party the Socialist Society of the Iranian Masses in January 1948 but disbanded it a few days later when Radio Moscow attacked it, unwilling to publicly oppose "what they considered the world's most progressive nations." Nonetheless, the dissent of Al-e-Ahmad and Maleki marked "the end of the near hegemony of the party over intellectual life."
He later helped found the pro-Mossadegh
Mohammad Mosaddegh ( fa, محمد مصدق, ; 16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967) was an Iranian politician, author, and lawyer who served as the 35th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, after appointment by the 16th Majlis. He was a member of ...
Tudeh Party, one of the component parties of the National Front, and then in 1952 a new party called the Third Force. Following the 1953 Iranian coup d'état
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup d'état ( fa, کودتای ۲۸ مرداد), was the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in favor of strengthening the monarchical rule of ...
Al-e-Ahmad was imprisoned for several years and "so completely lost faith in party politics" that he signed a letter of repentance published in an Iranian newspaper declaring that he had "resigned from the Third Force, and completely abandoned politics." However, he remained a part of the Third Force political group, attending its meetings, and continuing to follow the political mentorship of Khalil Maleki until their deaths in 1969.In 1963, visited Israel for two weeks, and in his account of his trip stated that the fusion of the religious and the secular he discerned in Israel afforded a potential model for the state of Iran. Despite his relationship with the secular Third Force group, Al-e-Ahmad became more sympathetic to the need for religious leadership in the transformation of Iranian politics, especially after the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1963.
Literary life
Al-e-Ahmad used a colloquial style in prose. In this sense, he is a follower of avant-garde Persian novelists like Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh. Since the subjects of his works (novels, essays, travelogues and ethnographic monographs) are usually cultural, social and political issues, symbolic representations and sarcastic expressions are regular patterns of his books. A distinct characteristic of his writings is his honest examination of subjects, regardless of possible reactions from political, social or religious powers.
On invitation of Richard Nelson Frye, Al-e-Ahmad spent a summer at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, as part of a Distinguished Visiting Fellowship program established by Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
for supporting promising Iranian intellectuals.
Al-e-Ahmad rigorously supported Nima Yushij
Nimā Yushij ( fa, نیما یوشیج) (11 November 1895 – 4 January 1960), also called Nimā (), born Ali Esfandiāri (), was an Iranian poet. He is famous for his style of poetry which he popularized, called ''she'r-e now'' (, lit. "new p ...
(father of modern Persian poetry
Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
) and had an important role in acceptance of Nima's revolutionary style.
In "a short but prolific career", his writings "came to fill over thirty-five volumes."
Novels and novellas
*''The School Principal''
*''By the Pen''
*''The Tale of Beehives''
*''The Cursing of the Land''
*''A Stone upon a Grave''
Many of his novels, including the first two in the list above, have been translated into English.
Short stories
* "The setar
A setar ( fa, سهتار, ) is a stringed instrument, a type of lute used in Persian traditional music, played solo or accompanying voice. It is a member of the tanbur family of long-necked lutes with a range of more than two and a half octa ...
"
* "Of our suffering"
* "Someone else's child"
* "Pink nail-polish"
* "The Chinese flower pot"
* "The postman"
* "The treasure"
* "The Pilgrimage"
* "Sin"
Critical essays
*"Seven essays"
*"Hurried investigations"
*"Plagued by the West" ('' Gharbzadegi'')
Monographs
Jalal traveled to far-off, usually poor, regions of Iran and tried to document their life, culture and problems. Some of these monographs are:
*"Owrazan"
*" Tat people of Block-e-Zahra"
*"Kharg Island
Kharg or Khark Island ( fa, جزیره خارک) is a continental island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran. The island is located off the coast of Iran and northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. Its total area is . Administered by the adjacent ...
, the unique pearl of the Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
"
Travelogues
*''A Straw in Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
''
*''A Journey to Russia''
*''A Journey to Europe''
*''A Journey to the Land of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
'' ("The land of Azrael")
*''A Journey to America''
Translations
*''The Gambler'' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
*''L'Etranger'' by Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
*''Les mains sales'' by Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...
*''Return from the U.S.S.R.'' by André Gide
*''Rhinoceros'' by Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...
Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award
The Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award is an Iranian literary award
A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author.
Organizations
Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...
presented yearly since 2008. Every year, an award is given to the best Iranian authors on the birthday of the renowned Persian writer Jalal Al-e Ahmad
Seyyed Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad ( fa, جلال آلاحمد; December 2, 1923September 9, 1969) was a prominent Iranian novelist, short-story writer, translator, philosopher, socio-political critic, sociologist, as well as an anthropologist who was ...
. The top winner receives 110 Bahar Azadi gold coins (about $33,000), making it Iran's most lucrative literary award.[" “War Road” author not surprised over lucrative Jalal award"]
, ''Tehran Times'', November 20, 2011. In some years there is no top winner, other notables receive up to 25 gold coins. Categories include "Novel", "Short story", "Literary criticism" and "History and documentations".["5000 works compete in 4th Jalal Al-e Ahmad Award"]
, Iran Radio Culture, IRIB World Service, August 17, 2011. The award was confirmed by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council
The Cultural Revolution (1980–1983; fa, انقلاب فرهنگی: Enqelābe Farhangi) was a period following the Iranian Revolution, when the academia of Iran was purged of Western and non-Islamic influences (including traditionalist unpoli ...
in 2005,[ the first award was presented in 2008.
]
See also
* Gholam-Hossein Sā'edi
* Ahmad Fardid
Seyyed Ahmad Fardid ( fa, سید احمد فردید) (Born in 1910, Yazd – 16 August 1994, Tehran), born Ahmad Mahini Yazdi, was a prominent Iranian philosopher and a professor of Tehran University. He is considered to be among the philosop ...
* Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards
References
External links
Al-i Ahmad, Jalal
A biography by Iraj Bashiri
Iraj Bashiri ( fa, ایرج بشیری; born July 31, 1940) is professor of history at the University of Minnesota, United States, and one of the leading scholars in the fields of Central Asian studies and Iranian Studies. Fluent in English, Pers ...
, University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-E-Ahmad, Jalal
1923 births
1969 deaths
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal
Al-e Ahmad, Jalal
Social critics
20th-century novelists
20th-century Iranian short story writers
Toilers Party of the Iranian Nation politicians
Tudeh Party of Iran members
Third Force (Iran) politicians
League of Iranian Socialists politicians
20th-century male writers
Iranian Writers Association members
20th-century anthropologists
20th-century Iranian philosophers
Muslim socialists
Iranian socialists