ŠARQ, a literary journal published in Tehran by Moḥammad Ramażāni (1904-67), the owner of the publishing firm Kolāla-ye ḵāvar. Some of the celebrated literary figures of the time were among the editors of the journal. The first issue appeared in Šahrivar 1303/August-September 1924, and the next, in far fewer pages, in Farvardin 1305/March-April 1926, under the editorship of ʿAli Dašti and Naṣr-Allāh Falsafi, respectively. Problems on both occasions resulted in the suspension of its publication until Dey 1309/December1930-January 1931, when it resumed as a new journal with Saʿid Nafisi as its chief editor, and it continued regularly for twelve issues up to Bahman 1310/January-February 1932.
The journal benefited from the collaboration of notable literati of the time (for their names and a list of their contributions, see Ṣadr Hāšemi, pp. 68-69). The thrust of the very first issue was to provide useful information about foreign nations, while in the second issue, which appeared after a lapse of nearly two years, mostly literary subjects were addressed. During the period that the journal was published regularly, considerable attention was paid to Persian literature and the histories of Persia and the neighboring countries. Saʿid Nafisi had announced in the first issue of the new series that the intention was “to present to the readers the best pieces from the pen of the famous literary figures of Tehran, and... [that] the journal will be a forum representing the present state of Persian literature.... It would also like to demonstrate that... scholarship in Persian literature and history is no longer the exclusive domain of a few Orientalists; we now have reached a point in our country that Orientalists have to benefit from the researches of our own scholars” (Majalla-ye šarq, issue 1, December 1930). He also pointed out that the journal would publish Persian translations of significant works written in other languages and its articles would set an exemplary high standard of writing in Persian, without resorting to rules and guidelines (Ṣadr Hāšemi, pp. 66-67). A notable feature of the journal was the translation of Friedrich Schiller’s Maria Stuart, rendered by ʿAbd-al-Ḥosayn Meykada, which was serialized in twelve issues.
Šarq was printed at Ḵāvar printing house in 32 to 62 single-column pages of 14 x 21.5 cm and rarely carried any illustrations. The annual subscription rate was 30 rials. Complete sets are available at the Central Library (Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazi) of Tehran University, Ebn Meskuya Library in Isfahan, the Central Library of Fārs, and the libraries of Moʾassasa-ye moṭālaʿāt-e tāriḵ-e moʿāṣer-e Irān, the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, and Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris. Complete sets of the new series (December 1930-February 1932) are held at the National Library of Iran (Ketāb-ḵāna-ye melli) in Tehran, Majles Library 2, Āstān-e Qods Rażavi Library, Harvard University Library, and Princeton University Library.
Bibliography:
Iraj Afšār, Sawād o bayāż: majmuʿa-ye maqālāt, 2 vols., Tehran, 1965-70, II, pp. 533-34.
Yaḥyā Ārianpur Az Ṣabā tā Nimā, 3 vols., Tehran, 1973-95, III, pp. 67-68.
Šahin Esfandiāri et al., Maṭbuʿāt-e Irān: fehrest-e taḥlili-e ketāb-ḵāna-ye Majles-e senā, Tehran, 1979, p. 133.
Fehrest-e majallāt-e mawjud dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazi-e Āstān-e qods-e rażawi, Mashad, 1982, no. 279.
Majalla-ye šarq I, Farvardin 1311/March-April 1932, p. 5.
Foruḡ-al-Zamān Nuri Eṣfahāni, Rāhnemā-ye maṭbuʿāt:fehrest-e našriyāt-e mawjuddar ketāb-ḵāna-ye ʿomumi-e Ebn Meskuya-ye Eṣfahān, Isfahan, 2001, p. 180.
Ṣadr Hāšemi, Jarāʾed o majallāt III, pp. 66-72.
Bižan Sartipzāda and Kobrā Ḵodāparast, Fehrest-e ruz-nāmahā-ye mawjud dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye melli, Tehran, 1978, pp. 158-59.
Ursula Sims-Williams, Union Catalogue of Persian Serials and Newspapers in British Libraries, London, 1985, no. 556.
Mortażā Solṭāni, Fehrest-e majallahā-ye fārsi az ebtedā tā sāl-e 1320 šamsi, Tehran, 1977, pp. 73-74.
Laylā Sudbaḵš, Fehrest-e našriyāt-e adwāri dar Ketāb-ḵāna-ye markazi-e Fārs, Shiraz, 1999, no. 122.
July 20, 2009
(Nasserddin Parvin)
Originally Published: July 20, 2009
Last Updated: July 20, 2009
