A Reinterpretation of West-toxication of Jalal Al-e Ahmad in the Light of the Concept of Dialogism with Self and Other

The present paper is an attempt to reinterpret the concept of West-toxication as explained by Jalal Al-e Ahmad by relying on the concept of Bakhtin’s dialogism with self and other to offer a new interpretation of this concept. Besides, through this research the applicability of the concept of self and other dialogism is also measured and through such measurement it will be shown how dialogism can be used as a method and theory for interpretation and hermeneutics of a text which is interpreted differently through other methods. Bakhtin’s dialogism is achieved through three aspects: self, other and dialogue with the self and other. Through this theoretical tool, in the first place, it is argued that first of all, Al-e Ahmad had to look at the other for self-knowledge in the form of existence. Secondly, the customary perception of Al-e Ahmad, as an anti-Western thinker is not a perfect perception. Through using theory of Bakhtin’s dialogism, one can conclude that Al-e Ahmad more than being against the West, protests the kind of tarnished, unequal dialogue and relationship between the East and the West. His suggests that the East should become a player and create an equal dialogue. This is possible through the concept of originality.