The Duty of Intellectuals and the Dispute between Tradition and Modernity in the Novel Nefrin-e Zamin(The Curse of theLand)

The Nefrin-e Zamin (The Curse of theLand) is a novel which tells the reader about the dispute between tradition and modernity as well as the intellectual and the rulers. It may also be regarded as a document testifying the defeat of the intellectualism and the tradition. This novel was written by Al-e Ahmad to perform his responsibility as an intellectual. In this novel, he tries to oppose modernity and the revival of past religions in some intellectual and political circles and also bourgeoisie economy. From this point of view, in some parts, the novel acts as a political statement and sometimes realities are ignored as if the author does not want to see them. Therefore, his views and social theories fail to be generalized. In the present work an attempt has been made to investigate the responsibility of the intellectual and the concept of modernity from his/her point of view. His social theory is also compared with some of the famous models of explanation in social science and then by reviewing the contrast between tradition and modernity, brought up in the novel, the plan of his ideal society is provided. The result of the present study is that this social theory may not be explained according to just one single model and in order to explain it more than one model should be used. All his views are not valid and suffer from some weak points. More than he has intention to offer theories and solutions, he opposes the present situation as an intellectual.