Afghan partisan serials collection, 1968-2011

Summary

Abstract:

Consists of more than four thousand individual issues of twenty-nine newspapers, journals, and magazines published in Dari, Pushto, Arabic, and English by various Afghan organizations (political and other) relating to political conditions and warfare in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's social and intellectual landscape is represented by the Taliban and anti-Soviet Mujaheddin groups; the communist People's Democratic Party; exiled loyalists to the deposed Afghan monarchy; independent humanitarians and intellectuals; and minority political parties that emerged following the post-2001 transition toward democracy. The digital collection is accessible in the Archives' reading room or for Stanford affiliated users at https://gpa.eastview.com/asc.

Extent:

14 manuscript boxes, 24 oversize boxes (53.8 Linear Feet)

Language:

Pushto; Pashto

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Afghan partisan serials collection, [Persistent URL], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The Afghan partisan serials collection consists of serials issued by various Afghan organizations (political and other) relating to political conditions and warfare in Afghanistan. The digital collection contains more than 4,000 individual issues of 29 newspapers, journals, and magazines published in Dari, Pushto, Arabic, and English and is accessible in the Archives' reading room or for Stanford affiliated users at >https://gpa.eastview.com/asc.

In the digital collection, each publication contains an English-language translation, as well as vernacular text and transliterations of all titles, subtitles and mastheads, and publishers. A holistic transliteration methodology was adopted which was informed through recourse to WorldCat references and other digital holdings, linguistic preference for Dari and Pushto words of Arabic origin (i.e. Hizb rather than Hezb, or Mujaheddin rather than Mojahedin), and finally, popular convention and deference to spellings preferred by the publication itself (Hewad rather than Haywad, for instance). Lastly, true to the intent of the media as a fluid medium that places a premium on communication and absorption of information, diacritical markings that are a mainstay in scholarly publications are largely absent.

Discovery for newspapers is at the issue-page level; discovery for journals is at the article level (with a rich search discovery possible for key words and names in journal article titles and article authors). Presentation is in the form of scanned images in PDF format.

Biographical / historical:

The collection of newspapers, journals, and magazines in Dari, Pushto, Arabic, and English represent the viewpoints of diverse groups, including the leftist revolutionary People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah-loyalists, various factions of Afghan Mujaheddin and foreign-backed jihadists, the Taliban-led government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as well as the Karzai regime, during a tumultuous period in the nation's history in which successive waves of foreign influence and invasion destabilized the region, resulting in more than three decades of armed struggle.

Print material in the collection covers events including the aftermath of the 1978 Saur revolution, the lives of political exiles and refugees in Pakistan, the complex interactions of anti-Soviet insurgency groups and their foreign backers in the U.S. and the Muslim world, the fall of Najibullah and civil war thereafter, the radicalization of foreign fighters in Kunar and Tora Bora, the rise and fall of the Taliban, the events of September 11, 2001, "Operation Enduring Freedom," the establishment of Hamid Karzai as president, and the continuing International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition occupation. Ranging from radical Islamists in favor of global jihad to cautious social democrats in support of civil society, the collection demonstrates the extraordinary range of ideologies and voices competing for mindshare in modern Afghanistan.

Many of the serials are vividly illustrated with reproductions of photographic portraits, battlefield scenes, cityscapes, and martyrs fallen to various causes, while others, in accordance with strict interpretation of Sharia law, eschew visual imagery altogether.

Acquisition information:

Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2016.

Physical location:

Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Places:

Afghanistan -- History

Restrictions:

Originals closed; digital use copies available. Stanford affiliates may also access the collection at https://gpa.eastview.com/asc.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Afghan partisan serials collection, [Persistent URL], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:

Hoover Institution

Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US

Contact:

(650) 723-3563

hooverarchives@stanford.edu

Website