A Cultural Criticism of Jalal-al-Ahmad's Modire Madrese (The School Principal) In the Light of Theodore Adorno's Theory

As one of the seminal figures of modernism and a member of the Frankfurt School, Theodore Adorno has questioned some of the fundamental concepts of culture in his "critical theory." The term "Culture Industry" coined and mostly discussed by Adorno refers to a post-Enlightenment era in which culture has acquired a new function: the slave under the shadow of dominant hegemony and instrumental reason. Under such conditions human beings are not deemed as cultural beings but mere commodities whose identities are lost due to commodification, standardization, and massification. As one of the opponents of the Enlightenment project in Iran, one may undoubtedly refer to Jalal-al-Ahmad who has devoted most of his literary and political writing to the same issue. Focusing on cultural awakening, Jalal attempts to portray the social condition of his milieu. The present paper is an attempt to investigate the concept of "Culture Industry" in Jalal's Modire-Madrese.