Criticism in the Age of Censorship

Satirist Abbas Towfigh will reflect on 50 years of lessons gleaned from Towfigh (1922-1972) — the single most influential satirical journal in the modern history of Iran. Hosted by the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies, this four-part seminar will delve into questions of censorship, the politics of humour and the function of satire as critique.

Abbas Towfigh is the doyen of Iranian satirists. Former editor, publisher and proprietor of the banned magazine Towfigh — launched in 1922 by Hossein Towfigh — Abbas is a cartoonist and humorist, a Sorbonne- trained historian of the Persian-language press and a shrewd polemicist.