Gharbzadegi
Encyclopedia
Gharbzadegi is a pejorative Persian
term variously translated as "Westoxification," "West-struck-ness" "Westitis", "Euromania", or "Occidentosis". It is used to refer to the loss of Iran
ian cultural identity through the adoption and imitation of Western
models and Western criteria in education, the arts, and culture; through the transformation of Iran into a passive market for Western goods and a pawn in Western geopolitics.
The phrase was first coined by Ahmad Fardid
(University of Tehran Professor) in the 1940s, it gained common usage following the clandestine publication in 1962 of the book Occidentosis: A Plague from the West by Jalal Al-e Ahmad, an eminent Iran
ian writer.
Al-e Ahmad argued that Iran must gain control over machines
and become a producer rather than a consumer, even though once having overcome Weststruckness it will face a new malady - also western - that of "machinestruckness."
The higher productivity of the foreign machines had devastated Iran's native handicrafts and turned Iran into an unproductive consumption economy.
The world market and global divide between rich and poor created by the machine - "one the constructors" of machines "and the other the consumers" - had superseded Marxist class analysis
.
Al-e Ahmad believed the one element of Iranian life uninfected by ‘’gharbzadegi’’ was religion. Shia Islam
in Iran had authenticity and the ability to move people.
as the Islamic Republic sought to legitimize its campaign of nationalization and Ayatollah Khomeini's push for "self-sufficiency".
"Gharbzadegi" is the title of a political song by British avant garde musician Robert Wyatt
, which appears on albums such as "Soupsongs Live".
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
term variously translated as "Westoxification," "West-struck-ness" "Westitis", "Euromania", or "Occidentosis". It is used to refer to the loss of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian cultural identity through the adoption and imitation of Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
models and Western criteria in education, the arts, and culture; through the transformation of Iran into a passive market for Western goods and a pawn in Western geopolitics.
The phrase was first coined by Ahmad Fardid
Ahmad Fardid
Ahmad Fardid was a prominent Iranian philosopher and an inspiring and dedicated professor of Tehran University. He is considered to be among the ideologues of the Islamic government of Iran which came to power in 1979...
(University of Tehran Professor) in the 1940s, it gained common usage following the clandestine publication in 1962 of the book Occidentosis: A Plague from the West by Jalal Al-e Ahmad, an eminent Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian writer.
Al-e Ahmed's idea
Al-e Ahmed describes Iranian behavior in the 20th Century as being "Weststruck." The word was play on the dual meaning of "stricken" in Persian, which meant to be afflicted with a disease or to be stung by an insect, or to be infatuated and bedazzled.I say that gharbzadegi is like choleraCholeraCholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
[or] frostbiteFrostbiteFrostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
. But no.It's at least as bad as sawflies in the wheatWheatWheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
fields. Have you ever seen how they infest wheat? From within. There's a healthy skin in places, but it's only a skin, just like the shell of a cicadaCicadaA cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha , in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and many of them remain unclassified...
on a tree.
Al-e Ahmad argued that Iran must gain control over machines
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
and become a producer rather than a consumer, even though once having overcome Weststruckness it will face a new malady - also western - that of "machinestruckness."
The soul of this devil 'the machine' [must be] bottled up and brought out at our disposal ... [The Iranian people] must not be at the service of machines, trapped by them, since the machine is a means not an end.
The higher productivity of the foreign machines had devastated Iran's native handicrafts and turned Iran into an unproductive consumption economy.
These cities are just flea markets hawking European manufactured goods ... [In] no time at all instead of cities and villages we'll have heaps of dilapidated machines all over the country, all of them exactly like American 'junkyards' and every one as big as TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
.
The world market and global divide between rich and poor created by the machine - "one the constructors" of machines "and the other the consumers" - had superseded Marxist class analysis
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
.
Al-e Ahmad believed the one element of Iranian life uninfected by ‘’gharbzadegi’’ was religion. Shia Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in Iran had authenticity and the ability to move people.
Impact
The phrase was revived after the Iranian RevolutionIranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
as the Islamic Republic sought to legitimize its campaign of nationalization and Ayatollah Khomeini's push for "self-sufficiency".
"Gharbzadegi" is the title of a political song by British avant garde musician Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
, which appears on albums such as "Soupsongs Live".