Westoxication

Abstract

I speak of being afflicted with “westitis” the way I would speak of being afflicted with cholera. If this is not palatable let us say it is akin to being stricken by heat or by cold. But it is not that either. It is something more on the order of being attacked by tongue worm. Have you ever seen how wheat rots? From within. The husk remains whole, but it is only an empty shell like the discarded chrysalis of a butterfly hanging from a tree. In any case, we are dealing with a sickness, a disease imported from abroad, and developed in an environment receptive to it. Let us discover the characteristics of this illness and its cause or causes and, if possible, find a cure.

Jalal Al-i Ahmad. Plagued by the West (Gharbzadegz). Translated from the Persian by Paul Sprachman Delmar. NY: Caravan Books Modern Persian Literature Series No. 4, 1982.