Towfigh
![]() Cover of the issue 19 | |
Editor | Hossein Towfigh |
---|---|
Categories | Satirical magazine |
Frequency | Weekly |
Founder | Hossein Towfigh |
Founded | 1923 |
Final issue | 1971 |
Country | |
Based in | Tehran |
Language | Persian |
Towfigh,also known asTawfiq,(Persian:توفیق) was a weekly satirical magazine which was published between 1923 and 1971 inTehran,Iran, with some interruptions. It was among the critics of thePahlavirule.[1]
The journal went through three phases: from 1923 until 1939, under founding editorHossein Towfighthe magazine was morenationalistic;from 1941 until 1953, under the son Mohammad-Ali Towfigh the magazine was more politically and government-critical; and later versions of the magazine under Towfigh brothers Hassan, Hossein, and Abbas, they focused on puresatire.[2]
History
[edit]Towfighwas launched in 1923 and was a four-page weekly.[2][3]However, there are other reports giving its foundation date as 1922.[4][5]The headquarters of the magazine was in Tehran.[3]Its founder was the Iranian journalist Hossein Towfigh who edited the magazine until his death in 1939.[3]During his editorship the magazine ceased publication between 1932 and 1938.[3]
He was succeeded by his son Mohammad Ali Towfigh as editor, who restarted the publication in 1941.[3][6]In 1949 the magazine was banned following the frequent publication of the cartoons mockingPrime MinisterAbdolhossein Hazhir.[7]Mohammad Ali Towfigh editedTowfighuntil 1953 when the magazine was again closed down by the Iranian authorities after the overthrown of thegovernmentof Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.[3][6]
It was restarted on 20 March 1958 with the titleFokāhi(Persian:Humorous).[3]Later it began to be published under its original title and was edited by three nephews of Hossein Towfigh (named Hassan, Hossein and Abbas Towfigh).[2][3]One of its frequent targets was Prime MinisterAmir-Abbas Hoveyda[5]who was instrumental in its closure by thecensorship agencyin 1971.[8]
Content, contributors and political stance
[edit]Towfighhad a changing political stance throughout its existence. It targeted and expressed the political views of lower- and middle-class Iranians.[4]Its contributors were liberal and secular writers and artists.[4]Major contributors included Abolqasem Halat, Abbas Forat,Iraj Pezeshkzad,Parviz Khatibi, Manouchehr Mahjoubi, Omran Salahi, Manouchehr Ehterami,Kioumars Saberi Foumani,Kambiz Derambakhshand Naser Pakshir.[6]Hadi Khorsandistarted his journalistic career in the magazine which contributed to when he was a high school student.[9]
The magazine featured political caricatures which appeared five years after its start when the Iranian government allowed their publication.[3]These cartoons mostly attacked the members of thePahlavi dynastyin a covert manner to avoid censorship.[4]From 1938 the magazine began to contain literary material instead of political satire due to the strict censorship exerted by the government.[3]Following the abdication ofReza Shahin 1941Towfighcontinued to publish political cartoons and political satire until its closure in 1971.[3]In these satirical materials the Shah,Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,prime ministers and cabinet members were criticized for their alleged inefficiency and incompetency.[7]
Legacy
[edit]The Chicago Persian Microfilms Project initiated by theUniversity of Chicagoin 1985 archived the issues ofTowfigh.[10]
Towfighcover pages
[edit]-
Cover page dated 1967 (Salnameh Tawfiq)
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Cover page dated 21 November 1968 satirizing Prime Minister Hoveyda who is being held by the Towfigh mascot "Kaka Towfigh"
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Cover page dated 14 January 1968 featuring Iranian Olympic Gold MedalistGholamreza Takhtiafter his death telling mourners "don't cry for me, cry for yourselves."
References
[edit]- ^گلونی (22 August 2018)."سخنرانی سید فرید قاسمی در بزرگداشت حسن توفیق".golvani.ir(in Persian).Retrieved6 December2022.
- ^abcAbbas Milani(2008).Eminent Persians: The Men and Women Who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979, Volumes One and Two.New York, NY:Syracuse University Press.pp. 406–409.ISBN978-0-8156-0907-0.
- ^abcdefghijkHasan Javadi (2017)."Towfiq (Tawfiq) Newspaper".Encyclopædia Iranica.
- ^abcdSahar Razavi (2021)."Rocks and Hard Places: Gender, Satire, and Social Reproduction in Pre-Revolutionary Iran".Review of Middle East Studies.55(1): 72, 84.doi:10.1017/rms.2021.34.S2CID247980019.
- ^abLiora Hendelman-Baavur (2019).Creating the Modern Iranian Woman. Popular Culture between Two Revolutions.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 74.doi:10.1017/9781108627993.ISBN9781108627993.S2CID211433811.
- ^abcMahmud Farjami (2014). "Political Satire as an Index of Press Freedom: A Review of Political Satire in the Iranian Press during the 2000s".Iranian Studies.47(2): 219–220.doi:10.1080/00210862.2013.860325.S2CID145067513.
- ^abBabak Rahimi (2015). "Satirical cultures of media publics in Iran".International Communication Gazette.77(3): 271.doi:10.1177/1748048514568761.S2CID144012670.
- ^Abbas Milani (2004)."Hovayda, Amir-Abbas".Encyclopædia Iranica.Vol. XII.
- ^Hadi Khorsandi (February 1986). "Sadeq Sedaqat of class 4-D".Index on Censorship.15(2): 25–28.doi:10.1080/03064228608534041.S2CID143127646.
- ^Laurie Abbott (July 1991). "Report of the Chicago Microfilms Project".Middle East Studies Association Bulletin.25(1): 36.doi:10.1017/S0026318400023658.JSTOR23060983.S2CID164443556.
External links
[edit]Media related toTowfiqat Wikimedia Commons
- 1923 establishments in Iran
- 1971 disestablishments in Iran
- Banned magazines
- Censorship in Iran
- Defunct magazines published in Iran
- Defunct political magazines
- Iranian political satire
- Magazines established in 1923
- Magazines disestablished in 1971
- Magazines published in Tehran
- Persian-language magazines
- Satirical magazines