1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781707303321

Autore

Talattof Kamran

Titolo

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

Pubbl/distr/stampa

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

ISBN

0-8156-5139-2

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource  (x, 318 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Modern intellectual and political history of the Middle East

Disciplina

700.82/0955

Soggetti

Women authors, Iranian

Women artists - Iran

Women dancers - Iran

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

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

Social change - Iran - History - 20th century

Ideology - Iran - History - 20th century

Iran Intellectual life 20th century

Iran Social conditions 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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.