Modernity, sexuality, and ideology in Iran : the life and legacy of a popular female artist / Kamran Talattof.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Talattof, Kamran.

Series:

Modern intellectual and political history of the Middle East.

Modern intellectual and political history of the Middle East

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Saʻīdī, Kubrā.

Women authors, Iranian--Biography.

Women authors, Iranian.

Women artists--Iran--Biography.

Women artists.

Women dancers--Iran--Biography.

Women dancers.

Women in popular culture--Iran--History--20th century.

Women in popular culture.

Sex--Social aspects--Iran--History--20th century.

Sex.

Social change--Iran--History--20th century.

Social change.

Ideology--Iran--History--20th century.

Ideology.

Iran--Intellectual life--20th century.

Iran.

Iran--Social conditions--20th century.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 318 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Modernity, sexuality, and ideology in Iran : the life and legacy of popular female artists

Place of Publication:

Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Iran, since the mid-nineteenth century, one issue has been a common concern: how should Iran become modern? More than a century of struggle for or against modernity has constituted much of the social, political, and cultural history of the country. In the decades since the 1979 Revolution, the question has become even more critical. In Modernity, Sexuality, and Ideology in Iran, Talattof finds that the process of modernity never truly unfolded, due in large part to Iran's reluctance to embrace the seminal subjects of gender and sexuality. Talattof's approach reflects a unique look at modernity as not only advances in industry and economy but also advances toward an open, intellectual discourse on sexuality. Exploring the life and times of Shahrzad, a dancer, actress, filmmaker, and poet, Talattof illuminates the country's struggle with modernity and the ideological, traditional, and religious resistance against it. Born in 1946, she performed in several theater productions, became an acclaimed film star in the 1970s, and pursued a career as a journalist and poet. Following the revolution, she was imprisoned and eventually became homeless on the streets of Tehran. Her success and eventual decline as a female artist and entertainer illustrate the conflict between modernity and tradition and Iran's failure to embrace an overt expression of sexuality. Talattof also profiles several other female artists of the 1970s, analyzing their lives and work as windows through which to examine what Iranian culture allowed and what it repudiated.

Contents:

Academic writing and writing about lives : an introduction

Modernity, sexuality, and popular culture : Iran's social agony

Iranian women and public space in the seventies : Shahrzad, a woman of her time

Seduction, sin, and salvation : spurious sexuality in dance and film

Shahrzad as a writer : the question of literary modernity

Social change in Iran and the transforming lives of women artists

Ideology, sexuality, and sexual agency : an afterword.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780815651390

0815651392

OCLC:

759158748

Publisher Number:

40019588227

40019578416

2027/heb34602 hdl