Jalal Al-e-Ahmad
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Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad جلال آلاحمد | |
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Sublime State of Persia | |
Died | 9 September 1969 | (aged 45)
Nationality | Iranian |
Occupation(s) | Writer, social and political critic |
Political party |
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Spouse | Simin Daneshvar (1950−1969, his death) |
Signature | |
Personal life
Jalal was born in
In 1946 he earned an M.A. in
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 in Ray, Iran.[14] Commons and his wife, Simin, believe he was poisoned by SAVAK.[15][16]
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.[17]
Political life
Gharbzadegi: "Westoxification"
We have been unable to preserve our own historicocultural character in the face of the machine and its fateful onslaught. Rather, we have been routed. We have been unable to take a considered stand in the face of this contemporary monster. So long as we do not comprehend the real essence, basis, and philosophy of Western civilization, only aping the West outwardly and formally (by consuming its machines), we shall be like the ass going about in a lion's skin. We know what became of him. Although the one who created the machine now cries out that it is stifling him, we not only fail to repudiate our assuming the garb of machine tenders, we pride ourselves on it. For two hundred years we have resembled the crow mimicking the partridge (always supposing that the West is a partridge and we are a crow). So long as we remain consumers, so long as we have not built the machine, we remain occidentotic. Our dilemma is that once we have built the machine, we will have become mechanotic, just like the West, crying out at the way technology and the machine have stampeded out of control.
Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Occidentosis: A Plague From the West, Mizan Press (1984), p. 31
Al-e-Ahmad is perhaps most famous for using the term
His message was embraced by the Ayatollah
and became part of the ideology of the 1979
Discourse of authenticity
Political activism
Al-e-Ahmad joined the communist Tudeh Party along with his mentor Khalil Maleki 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."[24]
He later helped found the pro-
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
Al-e-Ahmad rigorously supported
In "a short but prolific career", his writings "came to fill over thirty-five volumes."[29]
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"
- "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"
- "Block-e-Zahra"
- "Kharg Island, the unique pearl of the Persian Gulf"
Travelogues
- A Straw in Mecca
- A Journey to Russia
- A Journey to Europe
- A Journey to the Land of Israel[30] ("The land of Azrael"[15])
- A Journey to America
Translations
- The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- L'Etranger by Albert Camus
- Les mains sales by Jean-Paul Sartre
- Return from the U.S.S.R. by André Gide
- Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco
Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award
The Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award is an Iranian
See also
- Gholam-Hossein Sā'edi
- Ahmad Fardid
- Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Awards
References
- ^ Sena Karasipahi, Muslims in Modern Turkey: Kemalism, Modernism and the Revolt of the Islamic Intellectuals, I.B.Tauris (2008), p. 177
- ^ William O. Beeman, The Great Satan Vs. the Mad Mullahs: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other, University of Chicago Press (2008), p. 181
- ^ Nematollah Fazeli, "Politics of Culture in Iran", Routledge (2006), p. 114
- ^ a b Brumberg, Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran, University of Chicago Press, 2001, p.65
- ^ Emory C. Bogle, Islam: Origin and Belief, University of Texas Press (1998), p. 124
- ^ Hamid Algar, "Introduction" in Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Occidentosis: A Plague From the West, Mizan Press (1984), p. 31
- ^ 8 September 2016. "All written relics of Jalal / the author who is not tired of writing". Tasnim. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ISBN 9781317055334.
- ^ Mottahedeh, Roy, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.288
- ^ J. W. Clinton. "ĀL-E AḤMAD, JALĀL". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ Boroujerdi, Mehrzad. Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism. 1996. p.187
- ^ Mottahedeh, Roy, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.289
- ^ Boroujerdi, Mehrzad. Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism. 1996. p.65
- ^ "Photograph of Jalal Al-e-Ahmad's grave". Mehr News Agency. December 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "Jalal Al Ahmad". Iran Chamber society. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ Iraj Bashiri. "Al-i Ahmad, Jalal". angelfire. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ Al-e Ahmad patrimony in Tehran obtained Archived October 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism, Syracuse University Press (1996), pp. 68-69
- ^ Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Occidentosis: A Plague From the West, Mizan Press (1984), p. 25
- ISBN 9781138826212
- ^ "Message to the Pilgrims" (Message sent to Iranian pilgrims on Hajj in Saudi Arabia from Khomeini in exile in Najaf) February 6, 1971, Islam and Revolution: Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini, (1981), p.195
- ^ Avideh Mayville, "The Religious Ideology of Reform in Iran" in J. Harold Ellens (ed.), Winning Revolutions: The Psychosocial Dynamics of Revolts for Freedom, Fairness, and Rights [3 volumes], ABC-CLIO (2013), p. 311
- ISBN 0521650003.
- ^ Mottahedeh, Roy, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.290
- ^ Mottahedeh, Roy, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.291
- The London Review of BooksVol. 38 No. 4 · 18 February 2016 pages 11-12.
- ^ "Homa Katouzian on Khalil Maleki | Part 2: Debunking Conspiracy Theory - Tehran Bureau". PBS. 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
- ISBN 9781568592893.
- ^ Dr Stephanie Cronin, Reformers and Revolutionaries in Modern Iran: New Perspectives on the Iranian Left, Routledge (2013), p. 269
- ^ Al-e Ahmad, Jalal. "The Israeli Republic". Restless Books. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09.
- ^ " “War Road” author not surprised over lucrative Jalal award" Archived 2011-11-27 at the Wayback Machine, Tehran Times, November 20, 2011.
- ^ a b "5000 works compete in 4th Jalal Al-e Ahmad Award" Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, Iran Radio Culture, IRIB World Service, August 17, 2011.
External links
- Al-i Ahmad, Jalal A biography by Iraj Bashiri, University of Minnesota.