Publishing in Persian language in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Europe and United States Farid Moradi, Laetitia Nanquette, Masoud Hosseinipour, Ali Amiri, Dilshad Rakhimov, B. Biniaz International Alliance of independent publishers Collection État des lieux de l’édition Publishing in Persian language In Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Europe and United States. Authors: Farid Moradi, Laetitia Nanquette, Ali Amiri, Dilshad Rakhimov, Massoud Hosseinipour, B. Biniaz Translators: Bita Mafizadeh and Faez Robinson Cover designe: Ali Chakav First edition, Summer 2013 Publisher: International Alliance of independent publishers www.alliance-editeurs.org Digital Edition: www.naakojaa.com ISBN: 978-2-9519747-7-7 (Persian version) ISBN: 978-2-9519747-8-4 (English version) A special thanks to Sonbol Bahmanyar for her sincere cooperation in the implementation of this research project. We also would like to thank every Persian language publisher who worked on this project and the Prince Claus Fund for providing us financial support. Cette étude est en libre accès, sous format PDF et ePub, en persan et en anglais. Elle a reçu le soutien de la Fondation Prince Claus et de l’Alliance internationale des éditeurs indépendants. Contents Introduction 5 History of book Publishing in Iran 19 A review of the independent book publishing in Iran 41 The structure of book publishing industry in Iran 57 Cultural and translation exchanges between Iran and the West 111 Publishing Persian Books in Europe 131 Summary of Interviews with Iranian publishers in Europe 163 Publishing Persian Books in the United States 166 Publishing in Afghanistan 185 A review of publishing in Tajikistan 210 Publication of Persian books in Uzbekistan 232 References 239 Introduction B. Biniaz Typesetting and printing industry was invented in China around 1050 AD by a man named Bi Sheng who used movable characters of clay. This technique was in use until woodblock printing became popular, and it created the basis for industrial printing. When the printing industry found its way to Europe years later, it was revolutionized in 1440 by using moveable characters of an alloy and a new formulation for ink by Johannes Gensfleisch, known as Gutenberg, from Mainz Germany. Such printing techniques became the core of the Renaissance and provided citizens of Europe with reading and writing opportunities that were previously exclusive to the aristocrats. However, this modern industry was still very expensive for the majority of people so only the bourgeoisie could afford it. Around 300 years after the invention of Gutenberg’s printing technique, in 1798 another German named Alios Senefelder invented lithography. This technique was much cheaper than Gutenberg’s technique, was easier to use and made colour printing possible. Lithography was the main printing technique in Europe and Germany Publishing in Persian language until the beginning of the 1920s. Lithography is a word borrowed from Greek language; Lithos means “Stone” and Graphein means “To Write”. Images or words were drawn in reverse (as their mirror image) on a particular stone, for example on limestone, and then through a chemical process were cleaned on all sides by lithographs. This basic raised mould along with ink and pressure made printing cheaper. Although Gutenberg’s printing technique was in use in India and Ottoman territory since 1730, the growth in book printing in Europe and the Middle East (India, Ottoman territory and Persia) owed more to using Senefelder’s lithography rather than Gutenberg’s printing technique. In the beginning, books written in Persian were published using these methods in India, Ottoman territory, Egypt and some European countries, but not in Iran. The oldest books in Persian published using Gutenberg’s printing technique were produced in 1639 by a Dutch named Ludovicus de Dieu (1590-1642) in Leiden, Holland, after the death of Shah Abbas I (1629). These two books were “Jesus Story” and “St. Pedro Story”. The first printing house for publishing Persian books was established in 1810 in Calcutta, India, by the British using Gutenberg’s printing technique. This was more difficult and more expensive than lithography. Therefore, the prices were too high for even middle-class people to afford. During the Qajar dynast, according to Raphael du Mans, “Since the printing industry is not in use in Iran, books are very expensive. Books are priced based on the number of lines and the content of the books has no effect. A book with a thousand 6 Publishing in Persian language lines is worth two Abbasi. If it is written in calligraphy, it will worth up to five Abbasi”. (Bahman Ibrahimi, Resaneh-haye Nowin Website) As mentioned before Gutenberg printing technique was both more difficult and more expensive than lithography. In 1640, during the Safavie era, an Armenian merchant brought the first printing machine to Iran (Jolfa-Isfahan) and later on during Qajar dynasty and under Naseredin Shah’s rule (1831-1896), printing machines with lead letters were purchased. Both of these attempts used Gutenberg’s printing techniques and did not progress. 27 years after the invention of lithography by Germans, this industry found its way to Iran in 1825 for the first time when Mirza Jafar Tabrizi introduced lithography in Tabriz and then it moved to Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Urmiyah and other cities (Same Source). Since this technology was easy to use and cheap, it soon became popular in Iran. Divan of Hafez (Hafez’s love poem collection) was first published in Tehran using lithography techniques (1838). Afghanistan started to use this printing technology in the reign of Amir Shirali Khan (1863-1880), almost 40 years after Iran. According to historical documents, in the reign of Amir Shirali Khan, there were two other printing houses using lithography technique near Shams Al-nahar in Kabul. But due to political reasons and lack of a powerful central government in Afghanistan, this process did not develop. In Tajikistan a series of periodicals and newspapers were published in Persian between 1912 and 1913 and the Soviet Council Government introduced industrialized printing. “The first governmental printing 7 Publishing in Persian language house in Tajikistan was established in 1925 in Samarkand. The reason was that from 1924 to 1929, Tajikistan was like an autonomous republic in Uzbekistan” (Same Source) But sadly, due to the nationalistic policies of the Soviet authorities, publishing in the Persian language was banned. However, after Tajikistan independence in 1991, newspapers and periodicals in Tajik (Persian Tajik) and Cyrillic script were published once again. Although Tajiki is linguisticly a dialect of Persian, the governers of this country consider it different from Persian. During Mozafar Al-din Shah’s reign (1835-1907), some Iranian cultural figures such as Haj Mohammad Hossein Amin Al-zarb, Yahya Dowlat Abadi, Mirza Hassan Roshdiyeh, Mirza Alikhan Amin Al- doleh and Ehtesham Al-saltaneh, established a company named “Tabe Ketab”. Mohammad Ali Foroughi served as its director and some books were published in this printing house such as “The History of Iran” by Foroughi and “Ali” by Yahya Dowlat Abadi. However the publishing house did not last long because of the disputes between the founders, and was disbanded afterwards. In 1923, Mohammad Ramezani, a nineteen year old, launched “Sharq Library” which published literary magazines. At first, Nasr- Allah Falsafi and then Saeid Nafisi were the editors of these literary magazines. These literary and cultural magazines attracted translators and authors such as Saeid Nafisi, Parviz Khanlari, Sadegh Hedayat, Bozorg Alavi and Nasr-Allah Falsafi. Until the reign of Reza Shah (1925-1941), the printing industry was mostly under the control of the government or governmental institutes 8 Publishing in Persian language in Iran with a few exceptions mentioned above. However during this era some Iranian merchants who were buying Persian books from countries such as Egypt, Turkey and India and selling them in Iran got interested in the printing industry and evaluated it as a source of income. Since then, the following modern and legal publishing institutes were launched: “Khayam Library” under the management of Mohammad Ali Taraghi 1925; “Broukhim Library” under the management of Eshaq and Yahouda Broukhim 1927; “Ibn-e Sina Library” under the management of Ibrahim Ramezani 1930; “Scientific Publications” under the management of Haj Esmaeili Elmi 1932; and “Eghbal Library” under the management of Haj Mohammad Hossein Eqbal 1935. These companies were the major publishers during Reza Shah’s reign (Same Source). Considering the historical events of printing and publishing industry in Iran, its history of printing can be divided into the following categories: 1. 1825-1923 This period can be called the establishment of the printing and publishing industry in Iran. During this period, the driving force for the establishment of printing houses in Iran and after that in Afghanistan was the government. However, Iranian traders who were importing Persian books from India or Ottoman territory gradually started publishing books in Iran, as it was found to be economically reasonable. 2. 1923-1941 This period is one the most important eras in the history of the publishing 9 Publishing in Persian language industry in Iran. Alongside with the governmental printing houses, private publishers were formed which produced books, newspapers and journals. Due to the growth in competition and production, prices of publications went down and more people could afford them. Moreover, due to the expansion of economic and social infrastructure and because of the increased number of educated people, the printing and publishing industry flourished. 3. 1941-1953 Although the Second World War started in 1939, its effects on Iran were evident from 1941. Due to the economic difficulties and paper shortage, publication of books, newspapers and periodicals significantly decreased. On the other hand, at the end of the Second World War and beginning of the cold war, the world of publishing changed and evolved intellectually.