Sur-e Esrafil (magazine)

Sur-e Esrafil
CategoriesPolitics, Satire
FrequencyWeekly
PublisherMirzā Jahāngir Khān
First issue30 May 1907
Final issue8 March 1909
CountryQajar Iran
Based inTehran
LanguagePersian
WebsiteSur-e Esrafil

The Persian-language weekly journal Sur-e Esrafil (Persian: صور اسرافیل; DMG: Ṣūr-e Esrāfīl; English: “Trumpet of Esrafil“) was published between May 1907 and March 1909. It was one of the publications started following the Iranian constitutional revolution in addition to others, including Nasim-e-Shomal and Majalleh-ye Estebdad.[1]

History and profile

Sur-e Esrafil was launched in May 1907.[2] The first 32 issues were published by the founder of the journal, Mirza Jahangir Khan,[3] an Iranian author and journalist. With its liberal as well as revolutionary orientation, Sur-e Esrafil contributed significantly to supporting the Persian Constitutional Revolution. The editor published articles criticising strongly the high-class and the social situation of the country at the time and discussing controversial between conservatives and modern religion.[4] The journal became famous due to its literary satirical elements. Ali Akbar Dehkhoda (1879-1956) was responsible for the satirical articles of the column "Charand-o Parand“ ("Nonsense"). He had a simple linguistic style in contrast to the rather literary style addressing the educated people. In this way he wanted to reach the majority of the population and address the daily problems of the common people.[5]

During the repressions and on the command of Mohammad Ali Shah the journal was finally suspended in June 1908. Mirza Jahangir Khan was arrested and executed.[6] Sur-e Esrafil was revived under Dekhoda who published further 3 issues of the journal from Switzerland between 23 January 1909 and 8 March 1909.[4][7] It was backed by Mo’azid-al-Saltane.[7]

References

  1. ^ Ali Gheissari. "Satire in the Iranian Constitutional Press: Introducing the Majalleh-ye Estebdat". Foundation for Iranian Studies. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  2. ^ Babak Rahimi. "Satirical cultures of media publics in Iran". the International Communication Gazette. 77 (3): 271. doi:10.1177/1748048514568761.
  3. ^ Manoutchehr M. Eskandari-Qajar (2007). "Novellas as Morality Tales and Entertainment in the Newspapers of the Late Qajar Period: Yahya Mirza Eskandari's "'Eshgh-e Doroughi" and "'Arousi-e Mehrangiz"". Iranian Studies. 40 (4): 511–528. doi:10.1080/00210860701476528. S2CID 162033142.
  4. ^ a b cf. Christl Catanzaro: "Leserbriefe in Ṣûr-e Esrâfîl und Rûḥ ul-Qods als Forum des Informationsaustausches für die Intelligenzija der Mašrûṭîyat-Zeit“. In: Herzog, Christoph, Raoul Monika und Anja Pastor-Hatam (Hgg.): Presse und Öffentlichkeit im Nahen Osten. Heidelberg 1995.
  5. ^ Edward G. Browne: The Press and Poetry of Modern Persia. Cambridge 1914.
  6. ^ Liora Hendelman-Baavur (2019). Creating the Modern Iranian Woman. Popular Culture between Two Revolutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 31. doi:10.1017/9781108627993. ISBN 9781108627993.
  7. ^ a b Ali Kalirad (2018). "From Iranism to Pan-Turkism: A Less-known Page of Ahmet Ağaoğlu's Biography". Iran and the Caucasus. 22: 80–95. doi:10.1163/1573384X-20180107.