CENTER FOR IRANIAN STUDIES - کانون پژوهشهای ايران شناختی

"بعد از وفات، مدفن ِ ما در زمین مجوی
در برگهای ِ دفتر ِ دانش (/ در سینه های ِ مردم ِ دانا) مکان ِ ماست."

MĪR‘ALĀ‘I, Aḥmad (b. Isfahan, 21 Farvardin 1321 Š./10 April 1942; d. 2 Ābān 1374 Š./24 October 1995, FIGURE 1), editor of three literary magazines and translator of works of Western literature. Mirʿalāʾi was born into an educated, cultured family marked by the tension between the advocates of modernity and the Western way of life and those who subscribed to the traditional religious ideas. His father, ʿAli Mirʿalāʾi, was a physician by profession and an ardent nationalist actively supporting Moḥammad Moṣaddeq and his National Front (Jebha-ye melli). MirʿAlāʾi's political activities had once led to his incarceration in Ḵorramšahr by the British in 1941 during the occupation of Persia by the Allied. Aḥmad's interest in Western literature was kindled in childhood, when he would use his allowances to borrow popular translations of Western romances from a local barber and eagerly read them.
Mirʿalāʾi completed his secondary education in Isfahan and then, against his father's wishes who wanted him to continue in the family tradition and study medicine, he chose to follow his true passion for the literary world and enrolled at the University of Isfahan to study English language and literature, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in 1963. He then left for the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and received an MA degree in English in 1967. Upon his return to Persia later that year, he was drafted for military service and spent two years (1967-69) in the Literacy Corps (Sepāh-e dāneš) as a teacher in the rural area of Baluchistan. He married his maternal cousin Nāhid Kiānfar in 1971; they had four daughters (Leyli, Širin, Šhahrzād, and Homā), one of whom (Homā) died in early childhood (M. Mirʿalāʾi, 1999, pp. 108-10). In 1969 he joined the Franklin Book Program and served for three years as an editor of the Persian translations submitted for publication and also as the chief editor of Ketāb-e emruz, a quarterly of literary criticism published by the same firm. He then served for four years (1972-76) in the Ministry of Culture and Art (Wezārat-e farhang o honar) as the chief editor of Farhang o zendagi, a quartely published by the ministry. During the same period of time he was also the chief editor of the weekly Āyandagān-e adabi a literary publication of the daily Āyandagān. He spent the next three years (1976-79) as the Persian cultural attaché, first in New Delhi and then in Karachi. His return to Persia coincided with the Revolution of 1978-79. He was unemployed for a period of time before opening a small bookstore called Āftāb and later re-named Zendarud, which also served as a publishing house. The bookstore soon became a gathering place for like-minded people, particularly young students who would often use the facility to engage Mirʿalāʾi in discussions involving cultural and literary issues. In his final years, Mirʿalāʾi also did some lecturing in Šahr-e Kord and Najafābād private universities (Doostkhah).

Mirʿalāʾi was a talented translator, who chose his texts judiciously and remained scrupulously faithful and skillfully capable in conveying the full range of their essential sense in elegant Persian, regardless of any social, political, or cultural considerations. He maintained that not to translate at all is a far better option than doing an imperfect job, and that a good translation would be as effective as its original version (A. Mirʿalāʾi, 1992b).
The list of Mirʿalāʾi's published works includes more than thirty independent features, as well as translations of numerous stories, poems, and articles that were published in various literarily journals (e.g., Jong-e Eṣfahān, Mofid) and papers. His translations of two novels (Justine and Balthazar) by Lawrence Durrell were censored and never published. The first novel was printed but all copies were ordered to be pulped. Mirʿalāʾi's greatest ambition was the translation of the entire works of William Shakespeare, which he had been preparing to start, when his dream was cut short by his untimely death (Doostkhah). A number of his works still remain unpublished. Some were at different times published and ready for distribution when they failed to pass the approval of authorities and were subsequently pulled off the shelves (Motarjem 27, fall 1992). In the last few months of his life, Mirʿalāʾi was busy writing his memoir, which was left unfinished with his untimely death (Š. Mirʿalāʾi, 2003)
Mirʿalāʾi was never involved in any political activities and never affiliated himself to any political ideology, group, or organization. Nonetheless, his personal democratic views on life, which were reflected in his works, as well as his membership and active involvement in the Writers Association of Iran (Kānun-e nevisandagān-e Irān) were deemed intolerable by certain centers of power. Consequently he became subject to interrogations and receiving death threats during the last few months of his life. He was among the 134 prominent writers and poets who signed an open letter protesting the excessive censorship by the government and demanding freedom of speech and tolerance towards views and ideas at variance with the official position.
Three days before his death, Mirʿalāʾi had noticed that a few individuals unknown to him were taking photos of him at Zendarud bookstore, and he later confided to a friend that he was scared and worried that his life could be in danger. On the day of his death, he was scheduled to give a lecture on modernism in Isfahan University, in the morning, which had to be cancelled due to his sudden disappearance (M. Mirʿalāʾi, 2003). He was kidnapped on the street in the morning as he walked to his bookstore; his dead body was found in the evening near the bookstore, leaning against a wall and a half-used bottle of spirits placed next to him. The coroner's report ascribed the cause of death to an unidentified injection, which had left its visible mark on the arm (M. Mirʿalāʾi, 2003).

Bibliography:

Selected Translations.

J. Luis Borges, Labyrinths, The Aleph and Other Stories, tr. from English as Hazārtuhā-ye Borḵes: Alef wa dāstānhā-ye digar, Tehran, n.d.
J. Conrad, Under The Western Eyes, London, 1911, tr. as Az čašm-e ḡarbi, Tehran, 1984.
I. Fleming, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, London, 1964, as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Tehran, n.d.
E. M. Forster, The Torque, a short story tr. and pub. with seven stories by other authors as Ṭawq-e ṭelā Tehran, 1976.
W. Golding, The Scorpion God, New York, 1972, tr. as Ḵodā-ye ʿaqrab, Tehran, 1976.
G. Greene, The Honorary Consul, New York, 1973, tr. as Konsul-e efteḵāri, Tehran, 1977.
Idem, The Human Factor, New York, 1978, tr. as ʿĀmel-e ensāni, Tehran, 1984.
H. Melville, Billy Budd, The Sailor, 1924, tr. as Bili Bād-e malavān and published with two other stories by E. Allan Poe, Tehran, 1990.
O. Paz, Children of the Mire: Modern Poetry from Romanticism to the Avant-Garde, tr. from English as Kudakān-e āb o gel, Tehran, 1982.
Idem, Piedra de Sol Sun Stone, tr. from English as Sang o āftāb, Tehran 1971.
Idem, Convergences: Essays On Art and Literature, tr. from English as Dar bāra-ye adabiyāt, Tehran, 1975.

References:

http://www.iranica.com/newsite/search/index.isc

PUYANDA, Moḥammad-Jaʿfar (b. Yazd, 17 Ḵordād 1333/7 June 1954; d. Tehran, 18 Āḏar 1377/9 December 1998, FIGURE 1), scholar and translator of literary texts and sociological studies. Puyanda finished his primary and secondary education in Yazd before going to Tehran, where he received his MA degree in Law from the University of Tehran. In 1974, he went to France to study the sociology of literature, returning to ran shortly before the Revolution of 1979.
Puyanda entertained strong sympathies for the leftist movement of Iran, but he did not believe in the traditional ideas of Marxism and never joined any political organization or party, although he was a diligent defender of democracy and unlimited freedom of speech and belief. He was, however an active member of the Writers Association of Iran (Kānun-e nevisandagān-e Irān).
He learned French in his early twenties and began to translate its literary texts. Despite the trouble of poor health and poverty, he devoted most of his time and energy to his works, producing more than twenty books in a few years.
One month before his unexpected death, the ceiling of his rental room collapsed and his desk and books were buried under debris. He referred to the pressure and distressful financial condition that he was experiencing in a note at the introduction of his translation of History and Class Information: “I continued the translation during my worst financial and psychological situation. Perhaps it was the combined force of these pressure that stimulated me to do this work. In fact what kind of consolation could be better to me than the translation of one of the most important books of the world in recognition of the contemporary world and its class oppression and injustice?”
His choice of texts for translations and clearly reflect his belief in human rights and freedom. He also participated in a round-table panel organized by the weekly Ādina (now banned), and discussed the issue of human rights in Iran. He had a key role in reorganizing the Writers Association in August 1998, and a few months later, on 8 December 1998, he was kidnapped on Iranšahr Avenue in Tehran and later his suffocated body was found in the area of Bādāmak village, Šahriār district, a suburb of Tehran (Bidār, 1999). He was another victim of the serial murders, most probably political, that occurred in the 1990s.
Bibliography:
Selected Translations.
M. Bakhtin, Du dialogue, de desire, du la liberté, as Sowdā-ye mokālama, ḵanda va āzādi, Tehran, n.d.
H. de Balzac, La vieille fille, ed. and annot. Robert Kopp, Paris, 1978, as Pir doḵtar, Tehran, 1988; 2nd ed., 1990; 3rd. ed., 1991.
Idem, Gobseck, ed. and annot. Robert Kopp, Paris, 1978, as Gobesk-e rebāḵᵛār, Tehran, 1989.
Idem, Illusions perdues, with introduction and notes by A. Antoine, Paris, 1956, as Ārezuhā-ye bar bād rafta, Tehran, 2004.
Dj. Behnam, Le devenir de la famillie: Dynamique familiale dans les différentes aires culturelles, Paris, 1992, as Taḥavvolāt-e ḵānevāda dar farhangha-ye moḵtalef, Tehran , 2004.
L.-J. Calvet, Les Politiques linguistique, Paris, 1996, as Zabān-šenāsi-e ejtemāʿi, Tehran, 2000.
A. Garzón, La politique nationale du livre, Paris, 1997, as Siāsat-e melli-e ketāb, Tehran, n.d.
L. Goldmann, Pour une sociologie du roman, Paris, 1964, as Jāmeʿa-šenāsi-e adabiyāt, Defāʿi az jāmeʿa-šenāsi-e romān, Tehran, 1992; 2nd ed., 2002.
G. Lukács, Histoire et conscience de classe; essais de dialectique marxiste, Paris, 1976, as Tāriḵ va āgāhi-ye ṭabaqāti, Tehran, 1998.
Idem, La théorie du Roman, Paris, 1968, as Jāmeʿa-šens̄i-e romān, Tehran, 1995; 2nd ed., 1996; 3rd ed., 2002.
References.
Bidār, Hanover, December 1999 (special issue for the first anniversary of Puyanda’s death).
J. Doostkhah, Personal memories of Moḥammad-Jaʿfar Puyanda.
M.-J. Puyanda, Tā dām-e āḵer, Gozida-ye goftoguhā va maqālahā, ed. S. Ṣāḥebi (Puyanda), Tehran, 1999.
Idem, personal website, available here (accessed December 15, 2008).
S. Ṣāḥebi (Puyanda), “You Will Answer, One Day,” The Iranian, 12 December 2002, available here (accessed December 15, 2008).
Writers Association of Iran, Discourses and manifests.

Jalil Doostkhah
December 15, 2008

http://www.iranica.com/newsite/search/index.isc

پوينده، محمّد جعفر (اشكذر يزد، 17 خرداد 1333 / 7 ژوئن 1954– تهران، 18 آذر 1377/ 9 دسامبر 1998) پس از پايان آموزشهاي دبستاني و دبيرستاني در زادگاهش، به تهران رفت و دوره هاي كارشناسي (ليسانس) و كارشناسي­ي ارشد (فوق ليسانس) در رشته­ي حقوق قضائي را در دانشكده­ي حقوق دانشگاه تهران گذراند و در سال 1353 / 1974 براي پيگيري­ي آموزش در رشته ي جامعه شناسي به دانشگاه سوربن در فرانسه رفت و به جامعه شناسی­ي ادبیّات گرایش پیدا کرد. او كه در دوره­ي دانشجويي اش از كوشندگان مبارزه هاي برضدّ نظام پادشاهي­ي ايران بود، پس از پايان آموزش خود در فرانسه، در سال 1356 / 1977، در آستانه ي فروپاشي ي آن نظام به ايران بازگشت.
پوينده ازباورمندان به جنبش چپ ايران بود؛ امّا به ماركسيسم سنّتي و سازمانهاي پيرو آن اعتقادي نداشت. او يكي از مدافعان سرسخت آزادي ي بي حدّ و مرز انديشه و قلم و مردم سالاري و عضو كوشاي كانون نويسندگان ايران به شمار مي آمد.
او از بيست سالگي با يادگرفتن زبان فرانسه، ترجمه ي اثرهاي ادبي از آن زبان را آغازكرد. مهم ترين ويژگي اش در كار ترجمه، پُركاري، خستگي ناپذيري و سخت كوشي بود. او هرچند زندگي را در فشار و بي بهرگي مي گذراند و پيوسته با بينوايي و بيماري دست و پنجه نرم مي كرد، روزي بيست ساعت به كار مي پرداخت و بر اثر همين پركاري بود كه در فاصله اي چند ساله توانست بيش از 20 كتاب را از فرانسه به فارسي برگرداند.
یک ماه پیش از خاموشی اش، سقف اتاق اجاره ای اش فرو ریخت ومیز کار وکتاب هایش با آوار پوشانده شد، وتا سقف را تعمیر کند، خود نیز مریض شد. او در یکی از یاداشت هایش در مقدّمه­ي کتاب تاریخ و آگاهی­ي طبقاتی این فشارها وشوریدگی­ي خود را چنین بیان می کند:
"ترجمه کتاب تاریخ و آگاهی طبقاتی را در اوج انواع فشارهای طبقاتی ودر بدترین اوضاع مادّی وروانی ادامه دادم و شاید هم مجموعه ی همین فشارها بود که انگیزه وتوان به پایان رساندن ترجمه­ی این کتاب را در وجودم بر انگیخت. و راستی چه تسلاّیی بهتر از به فارسی در آوردن یکی از مهم ترین کتاب های جهان در شناخت دنیای معاصر وستم های طبقاتی­ي آن؟ تا چه قبول افتد وچه در نظرآید"
سویه­ي دیگر ِ چهره­ي او انتخاب درون­مايه­هايی است که دقیقاً بدیل وپاسخی هستند که سلاح های نظری را در مبارزه علیه هر نوع دولت توتالیتر صیقل می دهند. آن جا که پوینده باختین وکتاب او را معرّفی می کند، دارد به نحوی جوهر و درون­مایه­ي خود را نیز آشکارمی کند. کتاب سودای مکالمه، خنده ، آزادی به جوهر زندگی وآثار باختین اشاره دارد : در برابر آگاهی وحقیقت تک آوا وتک گونه ، آگاهی وحقیقت چند آوا و چند گونه را، ودر برابر فرهنگ رسمی وجزمی وسوگ وجدیّت ِ خشك، فرهنگ مردمی، جشن، خنده و طنز را قرارمی دهد. پوینده با این واژه ها، گویي دارد به قلب استبداد وتک اندیشی حمله می کند. نگاهی به اثرهاي ترجمه شده توسّط پوینده، نشان می دهد که او در چند قلمرو وبه طور موازی تلاش ورزیده است. نخستین عرصه به مسایل زنان باز می گردد. اوبا ترجمه­ي سه کتاب وچند مقاله در باره­ي زنان، با ديدگاه­هاي تبعیض­آلود ِ جنسی و جلوه های آن در کتاب، خانه، مدرسه و جامعه به مبارزه برمی خیزد. دومین قلمرو ِ فعالیّت پوینده به مبارزه علیه نقض ِ حقوق بشراز یک طرف و تشریح مبناهای حقوق بشراز طرف ديگر برمی گردد. ترجمه­ي اعلامیّه­ي حقوق بشر و مهم تراز همه شرکت در مناظره ومیزگرد آدینه (هفته نامه ي سياسي – فرهنگي، چاپ تهران) در پیرامون این موضوع، استدلال های کوبنده وشجاعانه اورا در افشاگری از نظام سیاسی حاکم نشان می دهد. پوینده با صدای رسا ودر عین حال مستدل می گوید:
" فلسفه تدوین اعلامیّه ­ي حقوق بشر بر بنياد حقوق طبیعی تدوین شده وآمیزه ای است از فلسفه ي حقوق طبیعی وتاریخی. قانون اساسی ما بر مینای فلسفه­ی حقّ الهی ودینی تدوین شده وبه نظرمن به جز بعضی موارد اسثنائی که آن به حقوق اجتماعی بر می گردد، در بقیّه موارد، از بنياد با اعلامیّه حقوق بشر آشتی ناپذیراست. در ماده 19 قانون اساسي از عقیده ومذهب صحبتی نشده است و در اعلامیّه­ي حقوق بشرگفته شده كه داشتن مذهب ویا نداشتن مذهب حقّ هرکسی است. در قانون اساسی­ي ما نه فقط حقوق مساوی مذهب نیامده؛ بلکه عقیده هم نیامده. یعنی حقوق مساوی شامل همه انسان ها نمی شود و در بسیاری از موارد پشت این شعار نوعی تبعيض آشکارخوابیده است."
سومین حوزه­ي فعالیّت پوینده به ترجمه­ي اثرهايی برمی گردد که به گونه اي، روایت جدیدی از مارکسیسم را معرّفی می کند که با قرائت ِ جزم ْ باورانه ومسخ شده ی ستالینی­ي آن تفاوتی آشکار دارد. در میان كارهاي ترجمه­شده­ي پوینده، کتاب تاریخ وآگاهی طبقاتی درخشش بی نظیری دارد. به راستی پوینده تنها با ترجمه­ي همین یک کتاب، يادگار ارزنده و گران بهایی برای صیقل دادن به اندیشه­ي چپ، از خود به جای گذاشته است.
و سرانجام، باید از نقش سازمان دهنده­ي او دراحیای کانون نویسندگان ایران یاد کرد. به حق او را باید از بنیان گذاران دوره سوم فعالیّت کانون نویسندگان به شمار آورد. او در تدوین، انتشار و دفاع از متن 134 نویسنده (بيان نامه اي با امضاي 134 تن از نويسندگان ايران كه بر حقّ مسلّم نويسندگان براي داشتن آزادي­ي بيان و نشر تأكيد مي ورزد) نقشی چشم گیر داشت. امّا او بیش از همه و به گونه ای پی گیر، سرسختانه و اصولی از آزادی­ي بی قید وشرط بیان دفاع مي کرد. او درجایی گفته است :
"بدا به حال حکومتی که ملّتش با اختناق و سانسور از انحراف وفساد محفوظ بماند".
چند ماهی پس از انتشار این سخنان، او را در بعد از ظهر چهارشنبه 18 آذر 1377 / 8 دسامبر 1998 در خیابان ایرانشهر ِ تهران، ربودند و كالبد ِ خفه كرده اش را در روستای بادامک شهریار در نزديكي­ي تهران انداختند (بيدار، ويژه ي پوينده).
وی قربانی ترورهای سیاسی‌ای گشت که در سالهای پایانی دههٔ هفتاد شمسی به دست عوامل خودسر وزارت اطلاعات ایران انجام می‌گردید و بعدها بعنوان یک رسوایی امنیتی مطرح و به قتل‌های زنجیره‌ای معروف شد.) ويكيپديا)

* * *

فهرست ترجمه هاي عمده­ي محمّد جعفر پوينده:

بالزاک، ا. پیر دختر/ گوبسک رباخوار/ آررزوهای بربادرفته
سودای مکالمه، خنده، آزادی باختین، ميخائيل
جورج لوکاچ، جامعه شناسی رمان / تاریخ و آگاهی طبقاتی
ماکارنکو، آ. س. راهنمای آموزش و مادران /آموزش وتربیت کودکان / راه زندگی
بهنام، جمشيد تحولات خانواده
لوسین جامعه شناسیي ادبیّات / جامعه ، فرهنگ ، ادبیّات، گلدمن،
ماکس هورکهایمر، سپیده دمان فلسفه­ي بورژوایی
گ، پلانتی بونژور ، هگل واندیشهي سیاسی در روسیه/ نقدی بر فلسفه­ي معاصر روسیه
النا جانینی بلوتی، اگر فرزند دختر دارید
گرامشی، آنتونيو و لوکاچ، جورج در آمدی بر جامعه شناسی ادبیّات
بنوات گری، زنان از نگاه مردان
الوارو گارثرن، سیاست ملّی­ي کتاب
لیا، لوین پرسش وپاسخ در باره­ي حقوق بشر
گلن جانسون، اعلامیهي حقوق بشر وتاریخچه آن
لوکاچ، جورج ریویر، فرانسوا و سرژ، فرانکل و مکتب ِ بوداپست
ميشل، آندره پیکار باتبعیض جنسی
میشل، لووی و نعير، سامي در شناخت اندیشهي گلدمن
فورستر، ويويان کابوس اقتصادی
، ژان لویی کالوه زبان شناسیي اجتماعی
، محمّد شکرابی درآمدی بر جامعه شناسی­ي آموزش وپرورش


كتاب شناخت:

1. يادمانده هاي شخصي و دوستانه­ي نويسنده­ي گفتاراز محمّد جعفر پوينده.
2. گفت و شنودها و بيان نامه هاي كانون نويسندگان ايران.
3. بیدار ، ویژه نامه­ي اوّلین سال خاموشی­ي محمّد جعفر پوینده، آلمان – هانوفر، آذر 1378 / دسامبر 1999
4. تارنماي پوينده در شبكه ي جهاني:
http://www.pouyandeh.net/
5. ويكيپديا (دانشنامه ي آزاد)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_page

posted by Jalil Doostkhah @ 8:38 PM