Tehran- The literary forum entitled “Jalal, Literature, Social Engagement” is scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the Amir Kabir Publications Bookstore.
The assembly is organised to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the death of Jalal al-Ehhmad, a prominent figure in modern Iranian literature.
The event presents a speech by educator and researcher Majid Aqai and moderator author and expert Somayeh Jamali.
Born in 1923, Al-e Ahmad spent his childhood relatively comfortable. Many members of his family, including his father, brother and stepbrothers, were all Muslim clergy.
In the early 1930s, when the Ministry of Justice began regulating clergy activities under Reza Pallavi, the Iranian monarch who ruled from 1921 to 1941, Al-Ahmad’s father voluntarily retired. His decision forced the young Jalal to leave school and work in various jobs in the market, including making watches and selling leather products.
He is a member of the Tudeh Party, a communist organization in Iran, and has also translated works by French writers André Gide, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus into Persian.
Throughout his life, Al-E Ahmad served in a variety of positions, including teacher, journalist, and university lecturer.
In 2008, Iran founded the Jalal Al-E Ahmad Literary Award to commemorate the writer who died in 1969.
He is widely regarded as one of the most influential Iranian writers of the 20th century, and is well known for his work exploring the political, social and economic issues that shape Iranian society. His critical essays, including “West Oxycation” and “Occidentosis”, are still relevant today.
His novel By the Pen explores the relationship between individuals’ personalities and the society they live in, and his book The School Principal depicts the dictatorship and corruption of the education system. Al Ahmad’s contribution to Iranian literature and society cannot be overstated.
sab/