Marina Nemat Appearing at Indigo
At 16 years of age, Marina Nemat was arrested in Tehran by officials of Khomeini’s regime and taken to Evin Prison. She spent two years there before being saved from execution by a prison guard she would later be forced to marry. Her book “Prisoner of Tehran,” published more than 20 years later in Canada, is a story of survival spanning the years in which she made efforts to help other young women survive prison, lived in a forced marriage, and was eventually able to escape the country.
For those in the Toronto area, Nemat will appear at Indigo Books and Music in the Manulife Centre on Wednesday, July 4 at 7:00 pm to discuss the book with Indigo CEO Heather Reisman.
Windows into Persian Culture
For literary enthusiasts in the Washington D.C. area, the Asia Society and co-host IREX will present a panel discussion on contemporary Iranian-American literature, and its role in fostering understanding about Iran, as part of their series on Islam in Asia. Windows into Persian Culture: Contemporary Iranian American Literature will take place on Tuesday, June 5th at 6:40 p.m. at the International Research and Exchanges Board.
Panelists Anita Amirrezvani, Afshin Molavi and Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, along with moderator Jacki Lyden will explore aspects of traditional Persian culture through an examination of some of the particular challenges encountered by those writing about Iran. For more information on this and other great Asia Society events, take a look at their events calendar.
My Name is Iran
Davar Ardalan, producer for NPR’s news program Morning Edition, has had a long and at times difficult relationship with her Iranian-American heritage. In her first book, My Name Is Iran, she describes a lifetime of drifting between the two countries and living two disparate identities while feeling at odds in both. The title refers to her full name, Iran Davar Ardalan, which she shortened due to anti-Iranian feelings she experienced upon her return to the United States after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The title is also the name of her 2004 NPR series, which traced the struggle of Iran after the revolution as reflected in the life story of her family. I immediately felt myself relating to her, since my own Iranian-Canadian experience has at times left me feeling ill at ease.
It is obvious that Ardalan values her Iranian ancestry tremendously and is passionate about the art, religion, history and future of Iran. She recounts how elements of the culture have influenced her growth from a lost adolescent channeling Brooke Shields to fit in, to an acclaimed journalist and producer. The independent Davar Ardalan who finally emerges is a far cry from the disillusioned young woman who entered into an arranged marriage after high school: “At eighteen, I was looking for a Rostam, a hero who would set my soul free, but all whom I found caused me to weep. Eventually, I bowed my head and allowed myself to be led.” With the same self-reflective and adventurous spirit she shares with the members of her noteworthy family, it is fair to say she does not allow herself to be led for long.
Her family’s varied history is the most compelling part of her memoir. The great-grandfather after whom she was named, Ali Akbar Davar, was a former justice minister for Iran under Reza Shah Pahlavi and was instrumental in secularizing Iran’s judicial system before his untimely suicide. The story of her grandfather Abol Ghassem, a Bakhtiari tribesman who returned to school at the age of 40 and graduated from medical school at 54, is one of tenacity and triumph. I loved reading about his perseverance, and the beginnings of his romance with Helen Jeffreys, Ardalan’s maternal grandmother. Helen is a fascinating figure in her own right, an American nurse and activist whose love for Iran was so great that she continued living there even after her divorce from Ardalan’s grandfather.
Nonetheless, the book was an occasionally frustrating read as the author spent less time on these remarkable portraits and more time alternating between stiff descriptions of her personal history and flowery asides reflecting on the mystical balances guiding her. Ardalan has really had some wonderful opportunities, both as a result of her family’s position and her own enterprising personality. She had the chance to interview Shirin Ebadi after the human rights lawyer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but does not discuss their interaction in depth. I for one would love to have read what these two strong Iranian women discussed.
My own experience as a reader would have been improved by better editing. Ardalan’s story never flows but lumbers along as a result of awkward passages, ill-fitting quotes, and too much attention to some curious details. Sixteen pages of notes after the text were just another among many distractions, particularly since some of these notes did not actually coincide with their numerical indications in the body of the book.
More than once, Ardalan refers to this book as “Iran’s search for a lawful society” as reflected in her own attempt to reconcile the many facets of her identity. She never adequately addresses this issue, however, and that is a real shame given the unique window she had into some of the most crucial events of recent Iranian history. As well, her own identity struggle, particular during her early adulthood, is told in a way that is at times superficial, even melodramatic and overly sentimental. At the end of the day, I came away feeling that I do not really know the true Iran – either of them.