08-14-2003, 04:25 PM
There was a very interesting column by Rober Fulford in the National Post the other day about a book called 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' by Azar Nafisi.<br>
Here is an excerpt:<br>
<br>
***<br>
The book chronicles, among many other things, Nafisi's appalling collision with reality. In the early 1970s, studying in America, she was a student rebel. Unlike most of her contemporaries, however, she had the dreadful experience of seeing her politics produce results. As a leftist Iranian at the University of Oklahoma, she gave passionate speeches "against the tyrants back home and their American backers." She supported the revolution against the Shah, and after he abdicated, in 1979, she and her husband returned to Tehran.<br>
<br>
They eventually discovered they had helped install a monstrous dictatorship. She found herself living in a place where men were afraid to look into the eyes of a woman, and women were flogged for wearing a veil improperly. Women learned that they were to show the world only the oval of their faces, framed by a scarf -- and, incidentally, no coloured shoelaces. They discovered they must not lick an ice cream cone in public.<br>
<br>
"We all helped create this mess," Nafisi's husband said. As she watched oppression moving into every corner of society, she realized that they had replaced the Shah "with a far more reactionary and despotic regime." Iran moved from authoritarian government (which was terrible) to totalitarian government (which turned out to be much worse). In America the word "revolution," as she and her friends used it, implied freedom. In Iran it meant the opposite.<br>
<br>
Within the safety of an American university the most vicious slogans she uttered seemed safe. She could shout (as she now puts it) "Death to this or that," knowing she was dealing in purely symbolic terms. "But in Tehran in 1979, these slogans were turning into reality ... all the dreams and slogans were coming true, and there was no escaping them."<br>
***<br>
<br>
Be careful what you wish for...<br>
<br>
The author of the book, Nafisi, is now living back in the U.S. Surprise, surprise.<br>
<br>
Wendy<br>
<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
Here is an excerpt:<br>
<br>
***<br>
The book chronicles, among many other things, Nafisi's appalling collision with reality. In the early 1970s, studying in America, she was a student rebel. Unlike most of her contemporaries, however, she had the dreadful experience of seeing her politics produce results. As a leftist Iranian at the University of Oklahoma, she gave passionate speeches "against the tyrants back home and their American backers." She supported the revolution against the Shah, and after he abdicated, in 1979, she and her husband returned to Tehran.<br>
<br>
They eventually discovered they had helped install a monstrous dictatorship. She found herself living in a place where men were afraid to look into the eyes of a woman, and women were flogged for wearing a veil improperly. Women learned that they were to show the world only the oval of their faces, framed by a scarf -- and, incidentally, no coloured shoelaces. They discovered they must not lick an ice cream cone in public.<br>
<br>
"We all helped create this mess," Nafisi's husband said. As she watched oppression moving into every corner of society, she realized that they had replaced the Shah "with a far more reactionary and despotic regime." Iran moved from authoritarian government (which was terrible) to totalitarian government (which turned out to be much worse). In America the word "revolution," as she and her friends used it, implied freedom. In Iran it meant the opposite.<br>
<br>
Within the safety of an American university the most vicious slogans she uttered seemed safe. She could shout (as she now puts it) "Death to this or that," knowing she was dealing in purely symbolic terms. "But in Tehran in 1979, these slogans were turning into reality ... all the dreams and slogans were coming true, and there was no escaping them."<br>
***<br>
<br>
Be careful what you wish for...<br>
<br>
The author of the book, Nafisi, is now living back in the U.S. Surprise, surprise.<br>
<br>
Wendy<br>
<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>