First things first: I realize the title of this endeavor sounds like a pretentious postmodern joke. (My awareness of that fact might qualify me as a post-postmodernist, but that's an epistemological debate for a different date.) I'm hoping the content that ends up in this space is not.
Reading Lolita in Tehran is a memoir about, above all, the power of literature to improve one's grasp on life. Azar Nafisi was a professor of English literature in Tehran during the Iranian revolution, and as her surroundings became increasingly more repressive, she retreated into books. It was only by doing so that she became able to reaffirm her voice in an atmosphere determined to squelch it.
My life is hardly as turbulent as Nafisi's was as an authoritarian regime came to power in Iran. But being a recent college graduate has come with an unexpected share of upheaval. Suffice to say that I'm on unsure footing--and perhaps that's why Nafisi's book spoke to me.
This blog is intended to be a reflection on how media helps one make sense of his or her surroundings. I won't go as far as The New York Times did in its review of Reading Lolita in Tehran and claim I'm investigating the "transformative power" of media. But by intertwining my personal experiences with criticism, I'm hoping to reach a deeper understanding of literature and film while also making a little more sense of the twenty-something experience. The end goal is to better explore the relationship between life and art.
Welcome, and enjoy the ride.
