Gharbzadegi
Gharbzadegi (Persian: غربزدگی) or Occidentosis is a Persian-origin term translated among other ways[1] as 'Westoxification' [2] or 'West-struck-ness'[3] .The concept describes an unquestioned imitation by Eastern cultures of Western appearance, behavior (particularly consumerism and materialism), modes of reasoning and expression with an insufficient intellectual understanding thereof. This would lead to the ruling classes reasoning and behaving in a way that is inconsistent with the environment they live in, and attempting to apply Western solutions to Eastern problems.
The term implies both that Iran is "intoxicated" (zadegi) with the West, but also a victim of the West's "toxins" or disease. The "intoxication or infatuation ... impairs rational judgment" so that Iran is prevented from perceiving the danger of the object of its infatuation -- the toxins of the West -- "moral laxity, social injustice, secularism, devaluation of religion, and obsession with money, all of which are fueled by capitalism" and result in "cultural alienation."[4] The term is used to refer to the loss of Iranian 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.[5][6]
The phrase was first coined by Ahmad Fardid, a professor of philosophy at the University of Tehran, in the 1940s to refer to the hegemony of ancient Greek philosophy -- a different meaning from that later popularised by Al-e Ahmad.[7] It gained common usage following the clandestine publication in 1962 of the book Occidentosis: A Plague from the West by Jalal Al-e-Ahmad.
Different translations to English
- "Westoxication", is by far the predominant translation in English references. It was used by Brad Hanson who found other renderings of gharbzadegi to be too literal. Hanson assumed Al-e Ahmad was "playing on the word senzadegi, the affliction of wheat by an aphid-like pest quite common in Iran". Hanson argued that it seeks to convey both intoxication (the infatuation with the West) and infection (Westernization as the poisoning of an indigenous culture). Mehrzad Boroujerdi added, "it most closely resembles Al-e Ahmad's usage of gharbzadegi as a medical metaphor denoting a social illness".[1]
- "Disease of Westernism"; Peter Avery used this term to refer to the topic of Al-e Ahmad's essay In 1965.[1]
- "Occidentalization"; Al-e Ahmad himself reportedly equated gharbzadegi with this term.[1]
- "Weststruckness"; in the early 1970s, Michael Craig Hillmann used this term.[1]
- "Weststrucktedness"; in the late 1970s, Paul Sprachman considered this term archaic and "West-strickenness" as cacophonic and stylistically problematic.[1]
- "Westities"; Edward Mortimer used this term in Faith and Power, attempting to render gharbzadegi while preserving the various ideas encapsulated in Persian. It was also used in Sprachman's translation to distinguish between the noun (gharbzadegi) and the essay's title ("Plagued by the West"), a term which is often included in German references as well (Geplagt vom Westen).[1]
- "Occidentosis"; this appears in the title of Robert Campbell's English translation and L'occidentalité in the French.[1]
- "Xenomania"; Hamid Algar opts for this term in his notes to the translation of Ayatollah Khomeini's government.[1]
- "Westomania" is preferred by Reza Baraheni in The Crowned Cannibals, and was also chosen by Farzaneh Milani in Veils and Words.[1]
- "Euromania"; Roy Motaheddeh used this term in The Mantle of the Prophet.[1]
Al-e Ahmed's idea
Al-e Ahmed describes Iranian behavior in the twentieth 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.[8]
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. "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 Tehran."[9]
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.[9]
Al-e Ahmad believed intellectuals were unable to construct an authentically Iranian modernity,[10] and that the one element of Iranian life uninfected by gharbzadegi was religion. Twelver Shia Islam in Iran had authenticity and the ability to move people,[11] so to eliminate the homogenizing and alienating forces of Western modernity it was necessary to "return" to authentic culture.[10]
Western popular culture
"Gharbzadegi" is the title of a political song by British avant-garde musician Robert Wyatt, which appears on Old Rottenhat (Rough Trade, 1985) and can also be heard on the tribute LP Soupsongs Live: The Music of Robert Wyatt.[12]
See also
References
- Hendelman-Baavur, Liora (2015). "The Odyssey of Jalal Al-Ahmad's Gharbzadegi - Five Decades After". In Kamran Talattof (ed.). Persian Language, Literature and Culture: New Leaves, Fresh Looks. London and NY: Routledge. pp. 258–286. ISBN 9781138826212.
- Moghadam 2003, p. 158.
- Al-e-Ahmad 1982.
- "Westoxification". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- Ajayi, Akin (2016-04-05). "'Westoxification' and Worse: Probing Iran's Turbulent History". Haaretz. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
- Gershon, Livia (2019-09-05). "Progress Is Not the Same as Westernization". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
- Tavakoli-Targhi 2000, p. 566.
- Mottahedeh 2014, p. 296.
- Mottahedeh 2014, p. 298.
- Ali Mirsepasi (2000). intellectual discourse and the politics of modernization. Cambridge University. p. 96. ISBN 0521650003.
- Mottahedeh 2014, p. 299-300.
- Rachel Carroll, Adam Hansen (2016). Litpop: Writing and Popular Music. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 978-1317104209.
Works cited
- Al-e-Ahmad, Jalal (1982). Gharbzadegi. Mazdâ Publishers. ISBN 978-0-939214-07-5.
- Moghadam, Valentine (2003). Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle East. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-58826-171-7.
- Mottahedeh, Roy (2014). The Mantle of the Prophet. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1-78074-738-5.
- Tavakoli-Targhi, Mohamad (2000). "Review of Iranian Intellectuals and the West: The Tormented Triumph of Nativism". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 32 (4): 565–571. doi:10.1017/S0020743800002853. ISSN 0020-7438. JSTOR 259441. S2CID 163126695.
Bibliography
- Al-e Ahmad, Jalal. Occidentosis: A Plague from the West (Gharbzadegi), translated by R. Campbell. Berkeley, CA: Mizan Press, 1983.
- Al-e Ahmad, Jalal. Plagued by the West (Gharbzadegi), translated by Paul Sprachman, Columbia University, NY; Delmar, NY:: Caravan Books, 1982.
- Al-e Ahmad, Jalal. Weststruckness (Gharbzadegi), translated by John Green and Ahmad Alizadeh. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 1997.
- Hanson, Brad (29 January 2009). "The "Westoxication" of Iran: Depictions and Reactions of Behrangi, Āl-e Ahmad, and Shari ati". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 15 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1017/s0020743800052387. S2CID 162995598.
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이란 혁명의 사상적 토대가 된 <가르브자데기>(Gharbzadegi)는 단순한 정치적 구호를 넘어, 서구 현대성이 이란의 정체성을 어떻게 파괴했는지에 대한 깊은 철학적 성찰을 담고 있다.
가르브자데기 (Gharbzadegi, 서구병)의 개념과 전개
이 용어는 1960년대 지식인 잘랄 알레 아흐마드(Jalal Al-e Ahmad)가 대중화했다. 그는 이란이 서구의 기술과 문화에 무비판적으로 중독되어 자아를 상실한 상태를 <병적 현상>으로 규정했다.
1. 개념의 정의: <서구에 취함> 혹은 <서구에 의한 독살>
어원: 페르시아어로 <Gharb>(서구)와 <Zade>(맞다, 물리다, 중독되다)의 합성어이다.
비유: 알레 아흐마드는 이를 <콜레라>나 <벌레 먹은 밀>에 비유했다. 외부에서 침투한 독소가 유기체(이란 사회)의 내부를 썩게 만든다는 논리였다.
본질: 서구의 기계 문명을 맹목적으로 수용하면서, 이란 고유의 역사적·종교적 뿌리로부터 단절된 채 서구의 <가짜 복사본>이 되어가는 과정을 비판했다.
2. 알리 샤리아티의 사회학적 해석
알레 아흐마드가 문화적 비판을 가했다면, 혁명의 이론가로 불리는 알리 샤리아티(Ali Shariati)는 이를 사회학적으로 확장했다.
자기 소외: 샤리아티는 서구화가 이란인들을 <자기 소외> 상태로 몰아넣었다고 보았다. 이란인이 스스로의 가치를 부끄러워하고 서구인을 흉내 낼 때, 그들은 서구 자본주의의 소모품으로 전락한다는 것이다.
이슬람의 재해석: 그는 이 병을 치료할 유일한 <해독제>로 이슬람을 제시했다. 다만 보수적인 성직자의 이슬람이 아니라, 억압에 저항하는 역동적이고 혁명적인 신앙으로서의 이슬람을 강조했다.
3. 정치적 발현: 팔레비 왕정의 <백색혁명>에 대한 반발
팔레비 국왕이 추진한 급진적 근대화 정책인 <백색혁명>은 가르브자데기의 전형적인 사례로 공격받았다.
농촌 파괴: 농지 개혁은 전통적인 농촌 공동체를 해체하고 농민들을 도시 빈민층으로 내몰았다.
문화적 이질감: 미니스커트와 서구식 유흥 문화가 유입되는 동안, 대다수의 보수적 민중은 이를 자신들의 신념에 대한 모독이자 미국의 <문화적 식민주의>로 받아들였다.
요약 및 평론: 서구적 근대성에 대한 실존적 저항
가르브자데기 담론은 이란인들에게 <우리는 누구인가?>라는 실존적 질문을 던졌다. 이는 단순히 서양 물건을 쓰지 말자는 운동이 아니라, 서구의 인식 체계에 종속된 정신적 노예 상태에서 벗어나자는 <정신적 탈식민지화> 운동이었다.
그러나 이 담론은 혁명 이후 이슬람 근본주의 체제를 정당화하는 도구로 변질되기도 했다. 서구적인 모든 것을 <독소>로 규정하면서 개인의 자유나 인권 같은 보편적 가치마저 <서구병>의 증상으로 매도하는 부작용을 낳았다. 결국 가르브자데기는 이란을 제국주의로부터 보호하려는 방패였으나, 동시에 내부의 다양성을 억압하는 칼날이 되기도 한 이중적 유산이다.
세진님, 이 <서구병> 개념이 당시 이란의 젊은 지식인들과 대학생들을 어떻게 혁명의 광장으로 불러모았는지, 그 구체적인 선전 방식에 대해서도 궁금하신가요?
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