@article{ART002819503},
author={Jeong, Sangjun},
title={Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US},
journal={Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University},
issn={1598-3021},
year={2022},
volume={79},
number={1},
pages={525-563},
doi={10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525}
TY - JOUR
AU - Jeong, Sangjun
TI - Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US
JO - Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
PY - 2022
VL - 79
IS - 1
PB - Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
SP - 525
EP - 563
SN - 1598-3021
AB - In the aftermath of 9/11, there was a huge surge in memoirs written by members of the Iranian diaspora in the US that take negative perspectives on Iranian society and culture, which one may interpret as a feature of Orientalism. This paper centers on Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003) to examine particularities and themes of Iranian memoirs and their problematics. In her critique of the Islamic Republic Nafisi situates Iran in the opposite of the West, using a range of binaries between good and evil, democracy and totalitarianism, and civilization and barbarism. She tends to ignore particular conditions of individual Iranians due to her class-based perspective and her lack of compassion and self-reflexivity. The paper claims that Nafisi’s narrative provides a cultural rationale for the US government to intervene in Iran to save Iranian women from the oppression of the totalitarian regime. It also points out the irony wherein the methods and frames that she uses to criticize the Islamic Republic are applied to her own memoir by her critics.
KW - Memoir;Azar Nafisi;Reading Lolita in Tehran;Orientalism
DO - 10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
ER -
Jeong, Sangjun. (2022). Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, 79(1), 525-563.
Jeong, Sangjun. 2022, "Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US", Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, vol.79, no.1 pp.525-563. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
Jeong, Sangjun "Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 79.1 pp.525-563 (2022) : 525.
Jeong, Sangjun. Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US. 2022; 79(1), 525-563. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
Jeong, Sangjun. "Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 79, no.1 (2022) : 525-563.doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
Jeong, Sangjun. Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, 79(1), 525-563. doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
Jeong, Sangjun. Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University. 2022; 79(1) 525-563. doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
Jeong, Sangjun. Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US. 2022; 79(1), 525-563. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
Jeong, Sangjun. "Representing Iran Memoirs by Iranian Writers in the US" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 79, no.1 (2022) : 525-563.doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.79.1.202202.525
