| Author | Jalal Al-e Ahmad |
|---|---|
| Original title | غربزدگی |
| Language | Persian |
| Subject | Islamic history socio-political critique |
| Genre | non-fiction |
| Published | September or October 1962 (Parts of it were published) 1982 (English translation) 1988 (Turkish translation) |
| Publication place | Imperial State of Iran |
Gharbzadegī (Persian:غربزدگی,lit. 'weststruckness') is a Persiannon-fiction book byJalal Al-e Ahmad, an Iranianintellectual, translator, and fiction writer, the first sections of which were published in 1341SH (1962).Gharbzadegī conveys Al-e Ahmad's particular view regarding thought ofWeststruckness and the perpetual, millennia-long war of the "evil"West against the "good" non-West. The year after some of its sections were released,Gharbzadegī was placed bySAVAK among the banned books. This book received almost unanimously negative reviews from critics.
The writing ofGharbzadegī was completed in 1340 SH (1961 or 62).[a] Parts of it were published for the first time in the magazinesKetab-e Mah andKeyhan-e Mah inMehr 1341 (September or October 1962).[1] Subsequently, both magazines were shut down, and the book's second edition—which was supposed to be published a year later with additions—was banned bySAVAK until the1979 Revolution.[1] Despite being banned by the government, the book continued to be circulated and distributed clandestinely, effectively remaining available to anyone who sought it in the 1960s and 1970s.[2] In 1982, Paul Sprachman published an English translation of the book under the titlePlagued by the West (124 pages) from Center for Iranian Studies ofColumbia University inDelmar, New York.[3] Six years later, Hamid Algar, together with B. Tuna, published a 208-pageTurkish translation of another English translation by R. Campbell, titledGarpzedeler: Batıdan Gelen Veba (Occidentosis: A Plague from the West), through Nehir Publications inIstanbul.[4]
Gharbzadegī received almost unanimously negative reviews from critics. InIran: A Modern HistoryAbbas Amanat describes Al-e Ahmad's theory of Weststruckness as hurried,Third-Worldist, careless, and—probably without the author intending it—nativist, ill-defined, andself-righteous.[5] Amanat considers the weakest aspect ofGharbzadegī to be its "often erroneous and highly tendentious reading of the Iranian past".[2] From his perspective, since this book, with its "overall contemptuous" view of Iran's political heritage, and its "careless and ideologically colored assertions" influenced the naive and eager readers of the 1960s and 1970s, he calls it among the "most damaging" Persian texts of the twentieth century.[2] He describes Al-e Ahmad's tone as self-righteous and customary, and hishistoriography as accompanied by paranoia.[6]
Mohammad Rahbar ofBBC Persian believes that in this book Al-e Ahmad has engaged more in storytelling and character-building than in a scholarly narration of history. He considersGharbzadegī a hasty piece of writing with "an angry interpretation of the disorder of the times and the backwardness of the Muslim East and Iran".[7]Dariush Ashoori, in his critique, considers Al-e Ahmad's courage in criticizing realities to be valuable, but at the same time regards the author's economic and historical reasons for his claims as misguided. In Ashuri's view, Jalal Al-e Ahmad, in fleeing from theWestern world, has escaped towardFundamentalism andReactionary.[7]Sadegh Zibakalam considers theAnti-Western sentiment reflected in Al-e Ahmad's book to have originated from theTudeh Party.[8]
Mohammad Zakeri, writing forEtemad newspaper, describes Al-e Ahmad's tone in this book as sharp and biting. He considers the author's view regarding the backwardness of theEastern world in relation to progress to be aleftist perspective. Zakeri regardsGharbzadegī as somewhat superficial, yet at the same time indicative of Al-e Ahmad's courage in swimming against the current of the intellectual climate of his time and in criticizing thePahlavi establishment. In Zakeri's view, Gharbzadegī is not a comprehensive scholarly study, but merely an articulation of the issue ofweststruckness "with complete frankness, courage, and compassion".[9] John Campbell ofForeign Affairs, in his review of the book's English translation, describes Al-e Ahmad's arguments in support of his claims as "shrill, often puerile".[10]
Mohsen Ghane’-Basiri describes the result of the ideas put forward by Al-e Ahmad in Gharbzadegī as "the transformation of the hooligan from an anti-hero into a hero". According to him, since Al-e Ahmad views theWestern world as a single totality, he cannot properly understand it or examine the issues related to it and its various dimensions. This seeing of the West as a totality has caused the subject of the book to turn into somethingmetaphysical—something that is not analyzable or examinable at all. In his view, the bookGharbzadegī "removed technology and development from Iranian intellectual literature and turned language from a communicative element into a concealing force". Ghane’-Basiri considers this book to be the reason why Iranian thinkers influenced by it are unable to properly critique the events of the 1960s through the 2010s.[11]
