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The Decency of Writing
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In past and present Iran, we can divide writers to two main and many derivative branches: 1. Those who write for knowledge development and expansion of mankind’s knowledge and awareness and choose producing thoughts, especially pure, original and valuable thoughts as the aim of their living and writing; 2. Writers who write to gain money or fame and go on with their lives. This group of people has found writing as a job to make a living out of and use its lateral fame to show off in various meetings and gatherings. In other words they write to make their lives pass, unlike those from the first group who pass their lives to write and add up to others΄ and their own knowledge.
So we can say that for the first group, thoughts and manifestation and appearance of that science is important, and the effort to produce and supply worthy living and for the second group, earthly living with its enticing features such as money and position and fame are important and living to attain them is meaningful and valuable. On this basis, if we look at the outcome of activities of each of these groups, we understand very well which of these two groups present Iranian society is very much in need of, and which of them it understands the value of, and it receives it with heart and soul.
About the first group who find the decency of living in the decency of quill and producing awareness, we can say a lot ; how they pass their lives and endeavor hardly with bearing so much hardships and adversities in the way towards realizing their visions and aims; but the pen, writing these lines is shameful to speak about most of the second group members, who see the decency of writing in gaining fame and bread and consider what they have made a market product which naturally like other products , are afflicted with matters such as brokerage, dealership, market finding , sale by auction and other pertinent matters. Among obvious problems and matters about the activities of an enormous number of the second group, we can mention plagiarism in various kinds, publishing another’s book with their own name, translating and publishing another’s book with their own name, presenting and defending another’s thesis with their own name, presenting others΄ research-scientific papers to creditable international magazines with their own names and publishing a single text many times in many journals and internet websites.
Now in the end it is worth mentioning the question; ‘what would we say and do about the person who- in the position of writer- commits one of the mentioned deeds and without taking into consideration the status of an professional journal, publishes one single text three times in different forms during five years?’ It just could be said that; does gaining fame and bread and eating it with ignorance worth such actions?
Jafar Golshan Roghani
PhD Candidate of Islamic Iran History
Translated By: Arash Yazdanpanah
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