Nafisi. From the books own explanation, “Azar Nafisi’s luminous masterpiece gives us a rare glimpse, from the inside, of women’s lives in revolutionary Iran.” Nafisi was a literature professor at the University of Tehran. After being expelled from the university for refusing to wear the veil, she selected a few of her most committed students to read forbidden Western classics in her apartment every Thursday morning. This book recounts those stories.
Nafisi is not the only Muslim women to speak out against her religion through books.
Although more extreme in her views than Nafisi, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, now a former Muslim, is a prominent critic of Islam and particularly women’s position in Islamic societies. She is the author of Infidel, another New York Times Bestseller. Her book is about her own life and her experiences growing up in a strict Muslim family.
In the following video, Hirsi Ali explains her own views, which are also expressed in her book.
As expressed before, Nafisi is less extreme than Hirsi Ali in her views on Islam. However, both share and express in their books the common belief of the suppression of women in strict Muslim families and communities.
Suppression of women is depicted in these books; however, is a “Villain and Victim” approach an appropriate and accurate depiction of Islam?
Although these books espouse to depict the conditions of Islamic women, they have been criticized across the globe as merely creating more inaccurate stereotypes. A Boston Globe article written in 2006 explained the accusations of a prominent scholar who is against Azar Nafisi’s memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran.
He accused her book of being neoconservative propaganda aimed at Islam. In the article, the scholar, Dabashi, stated ‘‘'One can now clearly see...that this book is partially responsible for cultivating the U.S. (and by extension the global) public opinion against Iran,’ The book… feeds into the stereotype of Islam as ‘vile, violent, and above all abusive of women—and thus fighting against Islamic terrorism, ipso facto, is also to save Muslim women from the evil of their men.’’’ Follow this link to read more: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/10/29/book_clubbed/
In the following video, others also critique Nafisi’s memoir and similar books. They blame such books as a cause of increased inaccurate stereotypes about Islamic women. (Stop the video at about 7 minutes).
Critique of Azar Nafisi and Similar Authors
Personally, I enjoyed reading Nafisi’s memoir and am planning on reading her newest book, Things I’ve Been Silent About. I have not read Hirsi Ali’s book, Infidel, but it is also on my list of books to read. Although I can see how they could increase stereotypes, these accounts and stories are true. They may not be true for all Muslim women, but I believe their stories are heroic and need to be told.
So now you know what I think, but what are your views?
Questions:
1. Why are we, as a western society so captivated by these books about women critiquing their own Muslim religion?
2. Do these books give us real insights into Muslim women’s lives or reinforce inaccurate stereotypes?
3. Do the views and expressions in these books ultimately help or hurt other Muslim women?
In case you’re still interested:
Video: Azar Nafisi: Views on Ayaan Hirsi Ali
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8eESatov8U&feature=related
Video: Interview with Azar Nafisi about her newest book, Things I’ve Been Silent About http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-3D71v801I
Although it is a clear exercise of freedom of speech and it is good to question old traditions in this new world, I can empathize with the Muslim faith. It is not fair for us as readers to so earnestly adapt the beliefs of those that have left the Muslim faith without considering the other side of the story. Often, I feel, the other side of the story, the viewpoints of this ancient and extremely ritualistic religion, are discounted on grounds of their beliefs not meshing with modern-day social values. I think as we read this literature or are exposed to anti-Muslim media, it is important for us to remember that while we may certainly feel sympathy for these women, we must not take their side of the story to be scripture.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post Barbara, and now I really want to read these books.
ReplyDelete1. I don't think we are as captivated by the Muslim women critiquing their own religion as much as we are captivated by the Muslim women speaking out finally. I feel like there is much to be told about Muslims and their culture and environment, but that we are uneducated as a Western Society (me, basically) and it is intriguing to hear their side of the story. To me, their women are always kept silent and in the background, so to see someone who has broken the mold and is speaking out about her own oppression and her personal views is refreshing and very educational. I think there is a lot to learn from these women and their knowledge and experiences.
2. I think these books can do both: give us real insight and reinforce stereotypes. Because these are personal stories and not the same for every female, more or less, it is a stereotype or a part of the whole we are learning. But also, it is important to learn about these author's insights to understand what is happening over there .
3. Both again. I think it can help women see that there is another choice out there, they don't have to remain in oppression, they too can break the mold and live a different way. But at the same time, the Muslim women may be hurt by these authors' words and what they have said. Muslim women still living the same life as before, may be held accountable and any act to the contrary of their male counterparts may be seen as treacherous and wrong.
Overall, I think it's great that these women have the courage to speak out. What they have done is open the doors for others, some may not choose to walk through those doors, but that is their choice - but at least they have a choice. I am excited to read these books now!
-Stacy Brinkerhoff
I agree with Aubrey. We have to be careful when it comes to praising these women for what they have done. As I'm sure most of you know, the majority of Muslims are peaceful, good people. But the radicals get the most attention, and give everybody else the bad rap. Of course, I'm not dismissing what these women have suffered. These are women who have suffered, and it is their right to share their stories. I think the things that some women go through are terrible (I've read A Thousand Splendid Suns), and there is no possible way to justify, even based on religion.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that we as a Western society are fascinated by this literature. I think this is an over broad statement since a majority of people have not read or heard about these books. We also must look at this from a Muslim point of view.
Imagine a disgruntled Mormon woman who had a bad marriage decides to leave the faith. She then writes a book detailing her negative experiences and bad feelings towards the Mormon faith. This book becomes a best seller. She is on Oprah, The Today Show, Larry King. Next thing you know, how terrible Mormonism is becomes the talk of the country.
Ok, so this situation is a little extreme, but I think I made my point. I can emphasize with Muslims who are not happy about their faith getting drug through the mud.
I do think that people in western societies are very intrigued about hearing anything negative toward Muslims, it makes us feel better. If it comes from a Muslim than it's even better because the attack comes from inside. Many anti Mormon books are written by people who were members of the church and had bad experiences. All of us as Mormons really hate anti Mormon literature and think it puts a terrible false light on our religion. I think that these books can do the same thing so yes it's important to be careful with our judgments. I do think that we can learn lots about the Muslim religion and especially the women of that religion but I don't know enough about the religion to really determine if these books are accurate or not. I would rather get my information from someone that I personally knew and trusted. I do believe that these books will help Muslim women by showing them that it is possible to speak out and live the life that they truly want to. We do need to be careful in jumping to conclusions that these books are teaching true religion I do think that some of the information could be false and extreme.
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