Iran underwent many changes throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. The traditional culture that had been in place for hundreds of years, was deemed outdated by new leaders in the Iranian regime. The leaders believed that the traditional culture was no match for westernization and that the culture needed to be completely reformed in order to survive all the changes that were occurring in the world around them.
The novel Touba and the Meaning of Night by Shahrnush Parsipur was written shortly after the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The author Parsipur does a decent job of weaving her fictional characters into the real life events that occurred before and after this Islamic Revolution in Iran. The role of the fictional main character Touba and the real life role of women in Iran are paralleled in this book to give the reader a true sense of what was going on during this time.
Iranian culture before the revolution practiced the segregation of women in the society. Women held household domestic duties and were in charge of raising the children. The men in society were in charge of finding work and supporting the family. The men held the power in the household and were off working jobs most of the day. Women were also required to wear a chador, or a veil, at all times when in public or in the house when males other than their husbands were present. The basis for this traditional culture was written in the Quran, which is the religious book of Islam. There was no separation of church and state in the traditional Iranian society, and the Quran was the law that the people obeyed at the time. Because the Quran called for women to have less power, the people enforced that rule, and women therefore had less power.
In the early 20th century, there were many political tensions felt in Iran between the weakening Qajar dynasty and the Pahlavi’s that were led by Reza Shah. The Qajar dynasty, which believed in the traditional cultures, was very weak going into the 1920’s. Reza Shah saw this weakness and capitalized on it and overthrew the Qajar dynasty. He instituted his own dynasty, known as the Pahlavi dynasty, and implemented many western ideas.
The traditional culture of Iran had been scrutinized and put under attack by Western powers such as Britain, France, Russian and later the United States. In order to continue competing in this modern world, the culture of Iran needed to be changed. Reza Shah believed in Westernization and soon after the political coup, he instituted many western ideas in Iran. There were many different types of industrialization and railroad construction. He also believed in public education and even created the first university in the country known as Tehran University. Reza Shah was then overthrown in favor of his son Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. He continued on the path of westernization and sought to implement more and more western policies.
Also during this time, women had more rights in society. They were no longer required to wear veils and were also encouraged to become educated and participate in the government and other public positions. Women were finally given a voice in Iran and for the first time ever, had a sense of power that was never seen in the traditional Iranian culture.
In the 1970’s more and more people in Iran were growing tired of the Westernization that was present in Iran under the shah. More and more people called for the reinstitution of traditional culture in Iran. The people then rallied around Ayatollah Khomeini, who wanted to implement the traditional Islamic culture back into Iran.
The Iranian Revolution began in 1978 and Khomeini led the revolt. Khomeini and the people were successful in overthrowing the Shah and the western type government. After completing the revolution, traditional rules were implemented once again. Laws were once again enacted to restrict the role of women in society. They were once again relegated to the home and were required to wear cover certain parts of their bodies if they were seen in public. The efforts of Reza Shah to modernize and change Iran were forgotten and the traditional culture was back in Iran.
The characters in Touba reflect all that was going on during the period before and after the Iranian Revolution. The main character is Touba, and her life directly parallels everything that was happening in Iran. The author does a decent job of telling the history of Iran through the character of Touba.
Touba begins her journey in search of God. She is trying to find him and also find the true meaning of life. This can be seen as a direct reference to the fact that Islam took a backseat during the reign of Reza Shah. Westernization was implemented during the Shah, and many Islamic people lost touch to their religion. Later on in the novel, you see Touba begin to participate more and more in the Iranian society. She has a voice in the public sphere, much like women did during the westernization of Iran under the Shah.
Touba then also has a relationship with a character named Ismael, who later becomes her son in law. Ismael is very educated and he symbolizes the advances in education that were present during the time of westernization in Iran. Later in the story though, he becomes very politically active. He is then arrested and tortured. It is believed that he later symbolizes the beginnings of the revolution in the 1970’s. Khomeini is becoming a political force and trying to implement the traditional culture. Education would be looked at as a western idea and it is no surprise that Ismael is punished because he is educated. The book then ends with Touba continuing on her quest of finding God. This may symbolize that Islam is back at the center of the Iranian culture at this time.
In conclusion, the novel Touba and the Meaning of Night, does a decent job of connecting fictional characters with events that were going on during the 20th century. You see direct references to Reza Shah, his son Mohammed, so the story definitely does have connections to the history of the country. The westernization of Iran under Reza Shah and the revolutionary period in Iran is definitely paralleled by Touba and the other characters at certain points throughout the novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment