I really liked the engaging usage of literature as a tool for liberation. This piece will, without directly saying so, help Americans with stricter views of Christianity view their own religiosity from the Iranian female experiences. Another contribution of this piece is the refreshing contemplation of male-female control and how to subvert it in a positive way even in the midst of a regime as coercive as the ayatollahs Iran. I remember when I was in college my female classmates had to pass the ruler test for the length of their skirts before leaving the female dorm. This piece made me, one more time, see the ayatollah that lives in me, in my history, a demon I am constantly exorcising. I loved the musical pieces that were at the introduction and at the end, they grabbed my soul.
“The Power of the Novel” is a celebration of reading, an homage to the healing, redemptive power of literature. But what makes this story so moving is the sad, surprising analogy made between the little girl Lolita and the women of Tehran. The women in the story, who meet in secret to read the bizarre, disturbing, and beautiful Nabakov classic, see themselves as victims of a man’s monstrous dream—The Ayatollah—just as Lolita is a victim of Humbert’s monstrous dream. Reading helps the women escape their lives and to re-imagine themselves. Fiction, discussed in this context, reminds you of its great subversive power. And bonus: Jeremy Iron’s reading of the text is fantastic. This piece could go into a show that deals with education, the Middle East, the treatment of women, or reading. Really, it could go anywhere; it’s interesting enough.
Comments for Lolita Unveiled: Muslim Women's Take on a Scandalous Classic
Produced by Laura Jackson & Betsy Morgan
Other pieces by Laura Jackson
Rating Summary
2 comments
Johnny Ramirez-Johnson
Posted on January 23, 2005 at 05:20 PM | Permalink
Review of Lolita Unveiled: Muslim Women's Take on a Scandalous Classic
I really liked the engaging usage of literature as a tool for liberation. This piece will, without directly saying so, help Americans with stricter views of Christianity view their own religiosity from the Iranian female experiences. Another contribution of this piece is the refreshing contemplation of male-female control and how to subvert it in a positive way even in the midst of a regime as coercive as the ayatollahs Iran. I remember when I was in college my female classmates had to pass the ruler test for the length of their skirts before leaving the female dorm. This piece made me, one more time, see the ayatollah that lives in me, in my history, a demon I am constantly exorcising. I loved the musical pieces that were at the introduction and at the end, they grabbed my soul.
Jonathan Goldstein
Posted on March 10, 2004 at 04:07 PM | Permalink
Review of The Power of the Novel: Reading Lolita in Tehran
“The Power of the Novel” is a celebration of reading, an homage to the healing, redemptive power of literature. But what makes this story so moving is the sad, surprising analogy made between the little girl Lolita and the women of Tehran. The women in the story, who meet in secret to read the bizarre, disturbing, and beautiful Nabakov classic, see themselves as victims of a man’s monstrous dream—The Ayatollah—just as Lolita is a victim of Humbert’s monstrous dream. Reading helps the women escape their lives and to re-imagine themselves. Fiction, discussed in this context, reminds you of its great subversive power. And bonus: Jeremy Iron’s reading of the text is fantastic. This piece could go into a show that deals with education, the Middle East, the treatment of women, or reading. Really, it could go anywhere; it’s interesting enough.