An Anthology of Iranian Women’s Writing

Iranian Women’s writings in exile

A brief anthology of women writers

Rouhi Shafii

Some three decades ago a revolution occurred in Iran which changed the Iranian society at its core. It even had a profound effect in the Middle East and maybe the whole world. Unlike the early twentieth century Constitutional Revolution whose primary aim was modernising the country and bringing it up to then present age, the revolution of 1979 went the opposite direction. This revolution which overthrew the Shah’s regime was taken over by an Islamic leader with millions of followers who were against modern ideas and manifestation of modernisation in any form and shape. To analyse the essence of people’s rejection of the Shah’s era is beyond this article but I can only mention the dissatisfaction of the majority poor and disadvantaged against the minority who ruled Iran for 50 years. Yet, it is fair to say that the Pahlavi Dynasty, especially its founder Reza Shah did modernise the country to some extent but that was done by way of strict dictatorship.

Mohammad Reza Shah, who had the full backing of the west, especially the US did some reforms in the areas of land distribution and the right of vote for women and changes in the family code but the reforms were from above and without people’s participation and vehemently opposed by the clergy establishment, who used their traditional popular power base to turn the people against them. Apart from that, the Shah ruled the country by establishing a security system which used imprisonment and execution as the only means to silence the opponents. More than this, he opened the country’s doors to the foreigners, mainly the US; a phenomenon deeply opposed by the Iranian people.

The 1979 revolution occurred in this background and almost all sections of the society participated in it.  But from inception the Islamists who were well organised with a charismatic leader took the power in their hands and did not share it with any other political group or individual. They established an Islamic state governed by Islamic laws which they extracted from among the ancient texts. A phenomenon which seemed impossible in the last decades of the twentieth century. Slowly, people’s eyes opened to the fact that you can jump from the frying pan into the fire.

The first victims were Iranian the women who had participated in their millions to overthrow the Shah. These ranged from Islamist housewives to modern office girls, university lecturers, teachers, civil servants, doctors, lawyers, judges and so on. The first decree issued by the new regime mentioned the compulsory veil which all women were expected to wear. That was the beginning of a long list of rights which were taken from women. The story of the Iranian women’s opposition to the Islamic regime is a long battle of heroism and bravery as well as sadness and despair. Just as recent as June 2006 and the beginning of March 2007, women activists were beaten up and then taken to prison for participating in peaceful demonstrations for equal rights and the abolition of discriminatory laws.

From the early 1980s, and as the pressure on the intellectuals and the educated intensified many as three to four million; mostly educated and professionals who were either under persecution on various charges or lost their livelihood to the constant harassment and detention, or members of their families had been in prison and executed, or were opposed to send their male children to the fronts during the long 8 years of Iran-Iraq war left Iran en masse. Women constituted a big proportion simply because they were under more intensified pressure than men. People left the country through the mountains of Kurdistan to Turkey, the deserts of south-east Iran to Pakistan, the north to the then Soviet Union, the Persian Gulf waterways and the airports. The trauma of their journeys had left scars on many to this date. Then the process of becoming a refugee, asking for asylum and landing in a country, which will be their home for years to come

.

The first few years of every one’s life in exile are the most difficult. Difficulties to settle down, language barrier and many other problems. One is confused, depressed, frightened and unaware of ones future. As time goes by and women settled down and found a job and the children started school, they had time to re-think about the past experiences and some took the pen to register their history.

Women’s writings after the revolution can be placed in the following categories:

1- Academics who published books on Islam and the dramatic changes it brought to the country.

2- Women scholars who researched the interpretations of the Islamic laws and their incorporation into the modern laws. They believed there is space for change within the religion itself. They even interviewed top ranking clergies in Iran to get their approval and find a way out of the stalemate. A number of books were published in this area.

3-Women who were not academics but had a talent for writing started writing their memoirs and we witness an upsurge of this genre among Iranians.

Women who were writing their memoirs, or those who did research on the history of Iranian women’s struggles; either in Persian or other languages contributed immensely to a better understanding of the Iranian culture and its pre-Islamic and pos-Islamic history.

Writing memoirs can be divided into sub-categories:

a- Women political prisoners; either during the Shah and in the Islamic republic have published their memories in Persian and English. The first of this kind was the memories of Asharaf Dehghani, a woman guerrilla fighter during the Shah. She managed to escape from prison and leave Iran. Her memories of the notorious SAVAC (Secret Service) and the tortures she had endured were an inspiration for many Iranians outside the country to turn against the Shah. A number of other political prisoners have also written their memoirs.

b- Women who were either writers before exile or those who had a talent for writing registered their life experiences. These constituted a big proportion of those who have published their memories. Among them are Shahnoush Parsipour, who wrote about her 5 years experience of imprisonment in Iran; Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran), Setareh Farmanfarmaian (A girl from Iran), Rouhi Shafii (Scent of Saffron), Shusha Guppy (The Blinfold Horse) and many others. Even the Shah’s mother-in-law, Farideh Diba and his wife Farah Diba (Pahlavi) published their memoirs.

4- Women novelists. Writing novels either by men or women is a modern phenomenon in Iran. While Iran is widely known as the land of poets, novels came to existence in the 20^th century.  A number of women have written novels in the past fifty years. Among the vanguard of this genre is Simin Daneshvar whose famous novel, Souvashoon has been translated into English. Other women novelists whose name is worth mentioning are; Goli Taraghi, Pari Mansouri, Ghazaleh Alizadeh, Rouhangiz Sharifian, Fataneh Hajseidjavadi, Monireh Ravanipour, Shahrnoush Parsipour and many others who write in Persian. While the bulk of writings are in Persian, a number of novelists have written in other languages mainly English and French.

The late Mani Shirazi published “The Siege of Azadi Square”. Rouhi Shafii is among those who had recently published her historical novel “Pomegranate Hearts” in English. This novel is written in a literary, poetic language and is a review of the 20^th century Iran and her relations with her neighbours, mainly Russia.

Pomegranate Hearts starts from the author’s hometown, Kerman, or Karmanieh (as stated in the ancient maps) with the main character, Suri who is born deaf and unwanted. The city is live in Rouhi’s memory as she remembers it in her childhood. Today, Kerman has changed to a great degree although her people are still kind and warm and hospitable. She writes about women in the harems who are silhouettes in the outside but lively and intelligent inside the walled Andaruns, resisting ancient traditions which act against their will. ‘People have to be free to choose, not bound by tradition and rules’. The characters are strong-minded women. Rouhi doesn’t like weak women. Suri is a deaf and the unwanted child of a wealthy family who is married to man three times her age. Her husband happens to be educated and open-minded. He becomes her mentor and teaches her reading and writing and so communicating.  Her husband leaves Iran for Russia during World War ll. Later, Suri becomes a prominent woman poet. Though a single mother she brings up her three children and sends them to Tehran to attend university. ‘When Suri puts her three children in the bus to leave Karmanieh for Tehran, she turns away without looking. Walks through town until sunset. Then she shuts the door behind her. Stands naked in front of the mirror for a long time, searching for the marks of her children’s shapes against hers, only a few hours old. There, she decides to find the courage to fasten a rope round the neck of her sorrows. There, she sees a woman proud of her life and her endeavours. There, she wipes tears away and compromises with life as if her children were close by; close enough for her to hear their heartbeat’. 

Writing in a language other than one’s mother tongue has its own barriers and difficulties no matter how one has mastered that language. Writing the history of women of a country that is tainted by discrimination, inequality and suppression is an additional barrier to women writers in exile. One other issue that has an important presence in Rouhi Shafii’s writing and probably in many other women’s writings is the embedded self-censorship that cannot be avoided. One has to read between the lines of memories, novels and other writings of women to reach the depth of the Iranian women’s history which is full of bravery, heroism and sadness as well as pride.