Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2003

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Index of Terms

Ayatollah

Ayatollah is a special religious title in certain branches of Islam, bestowed upon Islamic clerics and scholars who are considered to have advanced knowledge and expertise in various aspects of Islam. In Iran, it is used to designate the Shia clergy who are considered experts in religious and legal matters. While there is technically more than one ayatollah in Iran at any given time, Nafisi’s references in the memoir to “the Ayatollah” allude specifically to Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolutionary regime.

Iran-Iraq War

The Iran-Iraq War, sometimes known as the First Gulf War, lasted from 1980 until 1988. It pit the forces of the Iranian Islamic regime against those of Saddam Hussein, who was then the dictator of Iraq. The war had many causes, both in terms of territorial disputes and ideological differences between the two regimes. The conflict ended in defeat for the Iranian regime, which was forced to accept a ceasefire in August 1988. The Iran-Iraq War forms an important backdrop to Part 3 of Reading Lolita in Tehran.

Iranian Revolution

The Iranian Revolution refers to the overthrow of the Shah’s regime by predominantly militant Islamic forces in 1979, who then founded the Islamic Republic of Iran. After the success of the revolution, the new leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, instituted an increasingly harsh set of laws based on his fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. The revolution and its aftermath are significant elements throughout Reading Lolita in Tehran.

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a term used to denote an especially oppressive and authoritarian regime in the 20th century and beyond. A totalitarian regime attempts to exercise “total” control over its population in terms of political, economic, social, and religious matters. Nafisi characterizes the Islamic Republic of Iran as a totalitarian regime throughout her memoir.

The Veil

In Reading Lolita in Tehran, Nafisi depicts the Islamic regime’s imposition of the veil upon Iranian women as a violation of personal freedom. She argues that the mandatory nature of the veiling renders it both politically oppressive and robs it of its true significance as a religious gesture. She contrasts the voluntary veiling of people such as her grandmother and Mahshid—who embraced the veil pre-revolution as a sign of personal religious faith—with the mandatory veiling of women such as herself, who do not wish to wear the veil and do so only under duress.