Iranian Women's Bestselling Novels and State Ideology: A New Literary Movement

This project will provide textual, historical, and discursive analyses of Iranian women's bestselling novels of the last two decades, placing them in their sociopolitical context to reveal what they say about society's desire for reform, democracy, and civility. I employ my analytical model of Episodic Literary Movement for the project's theoretical framework and draw conclusions about the nature of modernity, reform, revolution, and the problematics of sexuality. According to this model, literary production is a discontinuous process that evolves within movements and in an episodic fashion. The appearance of these impressive novels represents a new set of literary exigencies and a new movement advocating a renewed literary modernity where feminist, reformist, and civil society activists find common ground for concern. How is this new literary movement different from the previous ones? How do these novels portray an emancipatory notion of the future? Kamran Talattof (University of Michigan, 1996) is professor of Persian language and literature and Iranian culture. He teaches Persian, Middle Eastern Women's literature, and Iranian Cinema at the University of Arizona. Many of his research and publication projects focus on issues of gender, sexuality, ideology, culture, and language pedagogy. In his research, he examines how cultural artifacts are created both within and in response to dominant social conditions, political ideologies, and sexuality. He traces the connections between literature, culture, and history. Talattof is the author, co-author, co-editor, and co-translator of sixteen books and tens of articles including Modernity, Sexuality, and Ideology in Iran: The Life and Legacy of a Popular Female Artist, which was among Choice's Annual Outstanding Academic Titles, 2011 and the co-recipient of the L. Yarshater Book Award, 2012. More info: CV: http://kamran.faculty.arizona.edu/cv Home: http://menas.arizona.edu/kamran-talat   DR. KAMRAN TALATTOF,PROFESSOR, PERSIAN STUDIESSCHOOL OF MIDDLE EASTERN & NORTH AFRICAN STUDIESMENAS Colloquium SeriesFriday, September 26, 20143pm Click to return to main Colloquium page