Seyyed Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad (; 2 December 19239 September 1969) was a prominent Iranian novelist, short-story writer, translator, philosopher, socio-political critic, sociologist, as well as an anthropologist who was "one of the earliest and most prominent of contemporary Iranian ethnographers". He popularized the term gharbzadegi — variously translated in English as "westernstruck", "westoxification", and "Occidentosis" —

Biography

Jalal Al-e-Ahmad was born in Tehran, into a religious family — his father was a cleric — "originally from the village of Aurazan in the Taliqan district bordering Mazandaran in northern Iran, and in due time Al-e-Ahmad 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. 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 religious in an autobiographical sketch written in 1967.

In 1946, Al-e-Ahmad earned an M.A. in Persian literature 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 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 the Firouzabadi Mosque in Ray, Iran. According to rumors he was poisoned by SAVAK, but this was vehemently contradicted by his wife, who confirmed the official cause of death, pulmonary embolism due to alcohol and nicotine abuse.

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 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 was the beginning of Western "economic and existential victories over the East." His criticism of Western technology and mechanization was influenced, through Ahmad Fardid, by Heidegger, and he also considered Jean-Paul Sartre as another seminal philosophical influence. 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 a 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 <blockquote>"The poisonous culture of imperialism [is] penetrating to the depths of towns and villages throughout the Muslim world, displacing the culture of the Qur'an, recruiting our youth en masse to the service of foreigners and imperialists..."</blockquote>

and became part of the ideology of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which emphasized nationalization 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.

Discourse of authenticity

Ali Mirsepasi 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 the West. The critique is centered on the concept of westoxication. Al-e Ahmad attacks secular intellectuals with the concept. He believes that the intellectuals could not construct effectively an authentically Iranian modernity. On this occasion, he posed the concept of “return” to an Islamic culture which is authentic at the same time. Al-e Ahmad believed that to avoid the homogenizing and alienating forces of modernity, it is necessary to return to the 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 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."

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

thumb|1988 Iranian stamp honoring Jalal Al-e-Ahmad.

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 in 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 the invitation of Richard Nelson Frye, Al-e-Ahmad spent a summer at Harvard University, as part of a Distinguished Visiting Fellowship program established by Henry Kissinger for supporting promising Iranian intellectuals.

Al-e-Ahmad rigorously supported Nima Yushij (father of modern Persian poetry) and had an important role in the 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"
  • "Of our suffering"
  • "Someone else's child"
  • "Pink nail-polish"
  • "The Chinese flower pot"
  • "The postman"
  • "The treasure"
  • "The Pilgrimage"
  • "Sin"

Critical essays

  • Gharbzadegī
  • "Seven essays"
  • "Hurried investigations"

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, the unique pearl of the Persian Gulf"

Travelogues

  • Khasī dar Mīqāt
  • A Journey to Russia
  • A Journey to Europe
  • A Journey to the Land of Israel ("The land of Azrael")
  • A Journey to America

Translations

  • The Misunderstanding by Albert Camus
  • The Stranger by Albert Camus
  • The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  • The Fruits of the Earth by André Gide
  • Return from the U.S.S.R. by André Gide
  • Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco
  • Dirty Hands by Jean-Paul Sartre

Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award

The Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award is an Iranian literary award presented yearly since 2008. Every year, an award is given to the best Iranian authors on the birthday of Jalal Al-e Ahmad. The top winner receives 110 Bahar Azadi gold coins (about $33,000), making it Iran's most lucrative literary award. 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". The award was confirmed by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council in 2005,