Frequency: | Monthly |
Category: | Cultural magazine Literary magazine |
Founder: | Salama Moussa |
Founded: | 1929 |
Finaldate: | 1944 |
Country: | Egypt |
Based: | Cairo |
Al Majalla Al Jadida (Arabic: الجديدة المجلة; The New Magazine) was an Arabic language socialist and avant-garde cultural and literary magazine that existed between 1929 and 1944 with a two-year interruption. Being an early avant-garde magazine in the Arab world it is one of two magazines started by Salama Moussa.[1] The other one was Al Mustaqbal, which was launched in 1914.[1]
Al Majalla Al Jadida was established by Salama Moussa in Cairo in 1929.[2] The magazine was closed down in 1931, but its publication was restarted in 1933.[2] In 1942 Moussa's ownership of the title ended, and his friend artist and art critic Ramses Younan became its owner and publisher to save it from the censorship.[3] However, the magazine ceased publication in 1944 when it was banned by the Egyptian authorities due to its leftist political stance.[2]
Al Majalla Al Jadida was published on a monthly basis.[4] [5] The magazine consisted of 30 pages which were printed on an A5-sized paper.[2] It acted as a platform to reproduce and transmit the Western cultural elements in Egyptian society.[6] It adopted the rational secular thinking and socialism in developing a future projection for Egypt.[7] The readers of the magazine were presented the Fabian socialism, Marxism, Darwinism, psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, modernist literature and abstract painting in detail.[7]
Al Majalla Al Jadida featured scientific discussions, philosophical and avant-garde literary and artistic writings.[7] Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfuz published his work for the first time in the magazine.[7] [8] As of 1930 Husayn Fawzi was one of the contributors who published articles on the discussions about Westernization, East and West, Egyptianism and Arabism.[9]
Al Tatawwur, which was published for a short time in 1940, was modelled on Al Majalla Al Jadida.[10]