Payman

Payman
EditorReza Soltanzadeh
Categories
FrequencyMonthly
FounderAhmad Kasravi
Founded1933
First issueDecember 1933
Final issue1942
CountryPahlavi Iran
LanguagePersian

Payman (Persian: Promise) was a cultural and political magazine in Iran. It was one of the periodicals which was published and edited by Iranian religious reformist Ahmad Kasravi in the period 1933–1942.[1]

History and profile

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The first issue of Payman appeared in December 1933.[1][2] The title of the magazine was a reference to another magazine with the same name in which Ziya Gökalp, an Ottoman nationalist intellectual, published articles at the beginning of the 20th century.[3] Kasravi's close ally Reza Soltanzadeh was the editor of Payman.[4] Nearly all the articles published in the magazine were written by Kasravi.[2] Payman came out biweekly during the first six months.[5] Then it was published on a monthly basis and became the official organ of the political party, Azadegan, in 1941 when Kasravi founded the party.[1][2]

In the first seven years the subtitle of Payman was gozaresh-e sharq va gharb (Persian: Account of East and West).[6] Then it was changed to dar bareh-ye shenakhtan-e jahan (Persian: On Knowing the World) and gozaresh-e jahan (Persian: World Report).[6] Payman folded in 1942 and was succeeded by Parcham.[1][4]

Content

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Kasravi's writings in Payman outlined his general ideology.[3] His articles mostly contained a critical approach towards the Europeanization of Iran and the alienation of Iranian people from their own customs and traditions.[7] Kasravi also criticized Iranian poets, Sufis and materialism in his writings.[7] Other topics which he attacked in the magazine included superstitions in Shiism and Islam.[4][7] His lecture delivered at the Literary Society was serialized in Payman in two parts.[8] After the publication of the first part Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Foroughi ordered the next issue of the magazine to be censored which would cover its second part.[8] Although the next issue was published, it did not feature the remaining part of Kasravi's lecture.[8] In addition, Payman contained a column on international politics.[6]

Legacy

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A collection of Kasravi's writings published in Payman was printed as a book in 1965.[9] The Chicago Persian Microfilms Project initiated by the University of Chicago in 1985 archived the issues of Payman.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Minoo Ramyar (1969). Sayyed Ahmad Kasravi historian, language reformer and thinker (MA thesis). Durham University. pp. 20, 22–23.
  2. ^ a b c Lloyd Ridgeon (2006). Sufi castigator. Ahmad Kasravi and the Iranian mystical tradition. London: Routledge. p. 20. ISBN 9780415665131.
  3. ^ a b Ervand Abrahamian (October 1973). "Kasravi: The Integrative Nationalist of Iran". Middle Eastern Studies. 9 (3): 279, 294. doi:10.1080/00263207308700249.
  4. ^ a b c Evan J. Siegel (2021). "Book review". Iranian Studies. 54 (1–2): 337–340. doi:10.1080/00210862.2019.1699232. S2CID 214529107.
  5. ^ Mohammad Ali Jazayery (1973). "Ahmad Kasravi and the Controversy over Persian Poetry". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 4 (2): 193. doi:10.1017/S0020743800027446. hdl:2152/24267.
  6. ^ a b c Roxane Haag-Higuchi (1996). "A Topos and Its Dissolution: Japan in Some 20th-Century Iranian Texts". Iranian Studies. 29 (1–2): 79. doi:10.1080/00210869608701843.
  7. ^ a b c Mosa Zahed (2017). "The Evolution and Ascension of Iran's Terror Apparatus". In Paulo Casaca; Siegfried O. Wolf (eds.). Terrorism Revisited: Islamism, Political Violence and State-Sponsorship. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-3-319-55690-1.
  8. ^ a b c Mohammad Ali Jazayery (August 1981). "Ahmad Kasravi and the Controversy over Persian Poetry". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 13 (3): 313. doi:10.1017/S0020743800053447. S2CID 161772334.
  9. ^ M. Amini (May 2012). "Kasravi, Aḥmad. A Bibliographical Survey". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  10. ^ Laurie Abbott (July 1991). "Report of the Chicago Microfilms Project". Middle East Studies Association Bulletin. 25 (1): 36. doi:10.1017/S0026318400023658. JSTOR 23060983. S2CID 164443556.