Iranian Women’s Life Narratives

Bibliographic Data

ID23205656
AuthorsFarzaneh Milani (corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume25
Issue2
Pages130-152
Publication date2013-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of women's history (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1042-7961 • E-ISSN: 1527-2036
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jowh.2013.0014
OpenAlexW2007565617
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

In this article I consider the production, reception, co-optation, and market commodification of Iranian women’s life narratives. I argue that although life narratives in their western sense were literary misfits in Iran until the middle of the twentieth century, the genre has exploded in recent decades, especially in diaspora. I trace the trajectory of my own evolving views on autobiographies and biographies, and ask why, in the unprecedented flourishing of writings about Iran in the U.S., a category of books, which I label “hostage narratives,” portray the Iranian woman as a prisoner without parole and reprieve. I discuss four main factors that have contributed to the popular appeal of these best-sellers: the familiarity of captivity as a theme, the allure of life narratives generally, a relative lack of translated works from Iran (and other parts of the Middle East), and American audiences’ genuine desire to learn more about the region.

Adventure · Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Commodification · Diaspora · Flourishing · Literature · Middle East · Narrative · Sociology · Theme (computing) · Contemporary and Historical Greek Studies · Gender Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Psychology · Social Psychology · Turkey's Politics and Society

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