"Al Taqafa Almaghribiya" - Second year - No 1 - Tuesday September 1, 1942
The readers got accustomed to consider the newspapers as a means of distraction to pass the time of day during one hour or more, so that one can say of them that they are interested by the current problems. The writers, on their side, have recourse to their pens to report black on white the happenings without measuring their immediate or farther consequences.
But, if we watch carefully what occurs in the advanced nations or even in those which are on the way of development, we will notice that they clear the press of all suspicion of futilities, see in it the witness mirror which reflects the real situation of the nation and consider it, from a historical standpoint, as the link of a chain which marks the decisive stages of progress or stagnation, recession or regression.
Anthem to the glory of the civilized nations, the press is the priviledged place which gives the opportunity to have access to the informations field. It is the honest and faithful teacher of the public as well as the expert with the fact finding mission of the deviations and the means of operating the necessary rectifications. The press is the perfect authority on which it is possible to build the edifice of a country which seeks to reach a position in relation with its ambitions among the civilized nations. Its voice is the most listened amidst the tumult of voices, its force the most operational of all the forces. The press is a sovereign power, appreciated by everyone. It has the merit to awaken the public from its state of lethargy and to lead it towards the way of progress and prosperity. Thanks to the press, each State looks after its reputation among the other nations, by setting a prevailing set of values to its aptitudes, its material and moral capacities, its economic activities and its potential reserves. It is due to the press that the State is part with courage and devotion in the most risky undertakings.
The diffusion of the press in the popular milieus is the best means to fight against illiteracy and ignorance. It is also the best means of inciting the people to orientate itself towards the teaching and to be aware that, without it, no rectification is possible, and no progress can be carried out. As a teaching auxiliary, the press is thus a very effective instrument at the service of the nation if it is willing to gain ground, have the position it deserves among the other nations, be respected on the international level, take in charge its own defense, safeguard its dignity and constitute sufficient resources to ensure its prosperity and its wellbeing. When we look further into the analysis, we note that both the writer and the editor share the responsibility of the deplorable intellectual situation in which we live. The writer does not consider himself as an instrument at the service of the edification of his country and does not provide any effort to produce a literary creation worthy of this name. The editor encourages the writer in his unusual style which prettifies the truth and dissimulates it behind a pseudo thematic way of writing.
For this reason, we have accelerated the reappearance of "Al Taqafa Almaghribiya" and assigned to this review the mission of offering the talented writers who control their art and their style and are faithful to their ideas, a vast field of opportunities where they can express their literary genius. We have framed it with a "taifa" or core made up of a reduced group of intellectuals well choosen among those who believe firmly in the objectives of revival and progress. This core is assisted by a "zoumra" or shock troop whose members are recruited among the readers who appreciate the efforts provided by the review and the goals that it set.
Our ambition is to make of "Al Taqafa Almaghribiya" a replication of the cultivated class of our people which started to contribute with an appropriate production in the fields of science, literature and arts. We will make every endeavour to spread out its orientation in the broad daylight in order to emphasize as well as possible the soul of the Moroccan people who played the first roles on the cultural field among the ancients and continues to say true without weakness nor prudery among the modern generations. The way we have traced as a guideline for our activity differs from the orientations which had been fixed to us previously and thus, in order to enable us to achieve our new goals without delay or deviations and without recourse to sinuosities or insidious means.Only the national interest and the cultural objective will prevail as rules of conduct. We are conscious that, while working exclusively in the interest of science, literature and art, we take the risk to irritate a certain number of our friends, but we are convinced that serving the cultural cause passes before any complaisance.even if this orientation leads to dissatisfy a significant number of those who intend to submit the public opinion to their "Weltanschauung" and to pass for the initiators of the spirit of revival. Our concern is to help the reader to value the science for the science, the letters for the letters, the arts for the arts and the culture for the culture's sake.
We will not spare any effort to assist him in his literary and cultural course and save him from the precipice in which he was collapsed by complaisant writers and irresponsible editors. The reader will then see that our goal is to make him conscious of this duty so that, all together, we can make further steps forward.
