Author: Ida Meftahi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317620615
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
Gender and Dance in Modern Iran: Biopolitics on Stage investigates the ways dancing bodies have been providing evidence for competing representations of modernity, urbanism, and religiosity across the twentieth century. Focusing on the transformation of the staged dancing body, its space of performance, and spectatorial cultural ideology, this book traces the dancing body in multiple milieus of performance, including the Pahlavi era’s national artistic scene and the popular café and cabaret stages, as well as the commercial cinematic screen and the post-revolutionary Islamized theatrical stage. It links the socio-political discourses on performance with the staged public dancer, in order to interrogate the formation of dominant categories of "modern," "high," and "artistic," and the subsequent "othering" of cultural realms that were discursively peripheralized from the "national" stage. Through the study of archival and ethnographic research as well as a diverse literature pertaining to music, theater, cinema, and popular culture, it combines a close reading of primary sources such as official documents, press materials, and program notes with visual analysis of filmic materials and imageries, as well as interviews with practitioners. It offers an original and informed exploration into the ways performing bodies and their public have been associated with binary notions of vice and virtue, morality and immorality, commitment and degeneration, chastity and eroticism, and veiled-ness and nakedness. Engaging with a range of methodological and historiographical methods, including postcolonial, performance, and feminist studies, this book is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East history and Iranian studies, as well as gender studies and dance and performance studies.
Gender and Dance in Modern Iran
Author: Ida Meftahi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317620615
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
Gender and Dance in Modern Iran: Biopolitics on Stage investigates the ways dancing bodies have been providing evidence for competing representations of modernity, urbanism, and religiosity across the twentieth century. Focusing on the transformation of the staged dancing body, its space of performance, and spectatorial cultural ideology, this book traces the dancing body in multiple milieus of performance, including the Pahlavi era’s national artistic scene and the popular café and cabaret stages, as well as the commercial cinematic screen and the post-revolutionary Islamized theatrical stage. It links the socio-political discourses on performance with the staged public dancer, in order to interrogate the formation of dominant categories of "modern," "high," and "artistic," and the subsequent "othering" of cultural realms that were discursively peripheralized from the "national" stage. Through the study of archival and ethnographic research as well as a diverse literature pertaining to music, theater, cinema, and popular culture, it combines a close reading of primary sources such as official documents, press materials, and program notes with visual analysis of filmic materials and imageries, as well as interviews with practitioners. It offers an original and informed exploration into the ways performing bodies and their public have been associated with binary notions of vice and virtue, morality and immorality, commitment and degeneration, chastity and eroticism, and veiled-ness and nakedness. Engaging with a range of methodological and historiographical methods, including postcolonial, performance, and feminist studies, this book is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East history and Iranian studies, as well as gender studies and dance and performance studies.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317620615
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
Gender and Dance in Modern Iran: Biopolitics on Stage investigates the ways dancing bodies have been providing evidence for competing representations of modernity, urbanism, and religiosity across the twentieth century. Focusing on the transformation of the staged dancing body, its space of performance, and spectatorial cultural ideology, this book traces the dancing body in multiple milieus of performance, including the Pahlavi era’s national artistic scene and the popular café and cabaret stages, as well as the commercial cinematic screen and the post-revolutionary Islamized theatrical stage. It links the socio-political discourses on performance with the staged public dancer, in order to interrogate the formation of dominant categories of "modern," "high," and "artistic," and the subsequent "othering" of cultural realms that were discursively peripheralized from the "national" stage. Through the study of archival and ethnographic research as well as a diverse literature pertaining to music, theater, cinema, and popular culture, it combines a close reading of primary sources such as official documents, press materials, and program notes with visual analysis of filmic materials and imageries, as well as interviews with practitioners. It offers an original and informed exploration into the ways performing bodies and their public have been associated with binary notions of vice and virtue, morality and immorality, commitment and degeneration, chastity and eroticism, and veiled-ness and nakedness. Engaging with a range of methodological and historiographical methods, including postcolonial, performance, and feminist studies, this book is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East history and Iranian studies, as well as gender studies and dance and performance studies.
The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity
Author: Anthony Shay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190493933
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 1307
Book Description
Dance intersects with ethnicity in a powerful variety of ways and at a broad set of venues. Dance practices and attitudes about ethnicity have sometimes been the source of outright discord, as when African Americans were - and sometimes still are - told that their bodies are 'not right' for ballet, when Anglo Americans painted their faces black to perform in minstrel shows, when 19th century Christian missionaries banned the performance of particular native dance traditions throughout much of Polynesia, and when the Spanish conquistadors and church officials banned sacred Aztec dance rituals. More recently, dance performances became a locus of ethnic disunity in the former Yugoslavia as the Serbs of Bosnia attended dance concerts but only applauded for the Serbian dances, presaging the violent disintegration of that failed state. The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity brings together scholars from across the globe in an investigation of what it means to define oneself in an ethnic category and how this category is performed and represented by dance as an ethnicity. Newly-commissioned for the volume, the chapters of the book place a reflective lens on dance and its context to examine the role of dance as performed embodiment of the historical moments and associated lived identities. In bringing modern dance and ballet into the conversation alongside forms more often considered ethnic, the chapters ask the reader to contemplate previous categories of folk, ethnic, classical, and modern. From this standpoint, the book considers how dance maintains, challenges, resists or in some cases evolves new forms of identity based on prior categories. Ultimately, the goal of the book is to acknowledge the depth of research that has been undertaken and to promote continued research and conceptualization of dance and its role in the creation of ethnicity. Dance and ethnicity is an increasingly active area of scholarly inquiry in dance studies and ethnomusicology alike and the need is great for serious scholarship to shape the contours of these debates. The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity provides an authoritative and up-to-date survey of original research from leading experts which will set the tone for future scholarly conversation.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190493933
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 1307
Book Description
Dance intersects with ethnicity in a powerful variety of ways and at a broad set of venues. Dance practices and attitudes about ethnicity have sometimes been the source of outright discord, as when African Americans were - and sometimes still are - told that their bodies are 'not right' for ballet, when Anglo Americans painted their faces black to perform in minstrel shows, when 19th century Christian missionaries banned the performance of particular native dance traditions throughout much of Polynesia, and when the Spanish conquistadors and church officials banned sacred Aztec dance rituals. More recently, dance performances became a locus of ethnic disunity in the former Yugoslavia as the Serbs of Bosnia attended dance concerts but only applauded for the Serbian dances, presaging the violent disintegration of that failed state. The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity brings together scholars from across the globe in an investigation of what it means to define oneself in an ethnic category and how this category is performed and represented by dance as an ethnicity. Newly-commissioned for the volume, the chapters of the book place a reflective lens on dance and its context to examine the role of dance as performed embodiment of the historical moments and associated lived identities. In bringing modern dance and ballet into the conversation alongside forms more often considered ethnic, the chapters ask the reader to contemplate previous categories of folk, ethnic, classical, and modern. From this standpoint, the book considers how dance maintains, challenges, resists or in some cases evolves new forms of identity based on prior categories. Ultimately, the goal of the book is to acknowledge the depth of research that has been undertaken and to promote continued research and conceptualization of dance and its role in the creation of ethnicity. Dance and ethnicity is an increasingly active area of scholarly inquiry in dance studies and ethnomusicology alike and the need is great for serious scholarship to shape the contours of these debates. The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity provides an authoritative and up-to-date survey of original research from leading experts which will set the tone for future scholarly conversation.
Dance in Iran
Author: Saloumeh Gholami
Publisher: Dr Ludwig Reichert
ISBN: 9783954901968
Category : Ballet
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"This volume is an extraordinary history of dance, full of mystery and humor. The various developments in the history of this art in Iran have never before been presented in a single book, making -Dance in Iran: Past and Present- the most comprehensive work on the subject to date. The book examines the major branches of Iranian regional, ethnic, and national dances as well as Iranian ballet and describes their history to the present."--Page [4] of cover.
Publisher: Dr Ludwig Reichert
ISBN: 9783954901968
Category : Ballet
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"This volume is an extraordinary history of dance, full of mystery and humor. The various developments in the history of this art in Iran have never before been presented in a single book, making -Dance in Iran: Past and Present- the most comprehensive work on the subject to date. The book examines the major branches of Iranian regional, ethnic, and national dances as well as Iranian ballet and describes their history to the present."--Page [4] of cover.
The Dance of the Rose and the Nightingale
Author: Nesta Ramazani
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815607274
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
This is an extraordinary autobiography of a young girl growing up in Iran. The daughter of an English Christian mother and an Iranian Zoroastrian father, Nesta Ramazani sketches her personal life story against the backdrop of a society marked by the fusion of Iranian, Islamic, and Western cultures, and by the efforts of an authoritarian state to force modernization on a traditional society. Within this multicultural tapestry of personal, cultural, and national life, the author portrays how she came to love Persian and Western music, poetry, and dance. But translating this love into practice seemed an insurmountable task until an American woman pioneered the establishment of the first indigenous Iranian ballet company. As a member of this troupe, the author violated convention, performing first in her native land and then traveling abroad to exhibit this beautiful synthesis of Persian/Western forms to foreign audiences. The significance of this work transcends an autobiography penned by an Iranian woman—still a taboo in traditional Iranian society—it is a unique microcosm of today’s universal quest for a dialogue among civilizations. Ramazani’s story will appeal not only to students of Iran, the Middle East, and women’s studies, but also to general readers.
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815607274
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
This is an extraordinary autobiography of a young girl growing up in Iran. The daughter of an English Christian mother and an Iranian Zoroastrian father, Nesta Ramazani sketches her personal life story against the backdrop of a society marked by the fusion of Iranian, Islamic, and Western cultures, and by the efforts of an authoritarian state to force modernization on a traditional society. Within this multicultural tapestry of personal, cultural, and national life, the author portrays how she came to love Persian and Western music, poetry, and dance. But translating this love into practice seemed an insurmountable task until an American woman pioneered the establishment of the first indigenous Iranian ballet company. As a member of this troupe, the author violated convention, performing first in her native land and then traveling abroad to exhibit this beautiful synthesis of Persian/Western forms to foreign audiences. The significance of this work transcends an autobiography penned by an Iranian woman—still a taboo in traditional Iranian society—it is a unique microcosm of today’s universal quest for a dialogue among civilizations. Ramazani’s story will appeal not only to students of Iran, the Middle East, and women’s studies, but also to general readers.
Tehrangeles Dreaming
Author: Farzaneh Hemmasi
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 1478012005
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 159
Book Description
Los Angeles, called Tehrangeles because it is home to the largest concentration of Iranians outside of Iran, is the birthplace of a distinctive form of postrevolutionary pop music. Created by professional musicians and media producers fleeing Iran's revolutionary-era ban on “immoral” popular music, Tehrangeles pop has been a part of daily life for Iranians at home and abroad for decades. In Tehrangeles Dreaming Farzaneh Hemmasi draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Los Angeles and musical and textual analysis to examine how the songs, music videos, and television made in Tehrangeles express modes of Iranianness not possible in Iran. Exploring Tehrangeles pop producers' complex commercial and political positioning and the histories, sensations, and fantasies their music makes available to global Iranian audiences, Hemmasi shows how unquestionably Iranian forms of Tehrangeles popular culture exemplify the manner in which culture, media, and diaspora combine to respond to the Iranian state and its political transformations. The transnational circulation of Tehrangeles culture, she contends, transgresses Iran's geographical, legal, and moral boundaries while allowing all Iranians the ability to imagine new forms of identity and belonging.
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 1478012005
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 159
Book Description
Los Angeles, called Tehrangeles because it is home to the largest concentration of Iranians outside of Iran, is the birthplace of a distinctive form of postrevolutionary pop music. Created by professional musicians and media producers fleeing Iran's revolutionary-era ban on “immoral” popular music, Tehrangeles pop has been a part of daily life for Iranians at home and abroad for decades. In Tehrangeles Dreaming Farzaneh Hemmasi draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Los Angeles and musical and textual analysis to examine how the songs, music videos, and television made in Tehrangeles express modes of Iranianness not possible in Iran. Exploring Tehrangeles pop producers' complex commercial and political positioning and the histories, sensations, and fantasies their music makes available to global Iranian audiences, Hemmasi shows how unquestionably Iranian forms of Tehrangeles popular culture exemplify the manner in which culture, media, and diaspora combine to respond to the Iranian state and its political transformations. The transnational circulation of Tehrangeles culture, she contends, transgresses Iran's geographical, legal, and moral boundaries while allowing all Iranians the ability to imagine new forms of identity and belonging.
The Art of Persian Dance
Author: Denise Logsdon
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692364635
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
An instructional book on Persian dance technique, including understanding Persian aesthetics, music, and dynamic expression.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692364635
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
An instructional book on Persian dance technique, including understanding Persian aesthetics, music, and dynamic expression.
Choreographing Identities
Author: Anthony Shay
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 078645153X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 262
Book Description
Throughout its history, the United States has become a new home for thousands of immigrants, all of whom have brought their own traditions and expressions of ethnicity. Not least among these customs are folk dances, which over time have become visual representations of cultural identity. Naturally, however, these dances have not existed in a vacuum. They have changed--in part as a response to ever-changing social identities, and in part as a reaction to deliberate manipulations by those within as well as outside of a particular culture. Compiled in great part from the author's own personal dance experience, this volume looks at how various cultures use dance as a visual representation of their identity, and how "traditional" dances change over time. It discusses several "parallel layers" of dance: dances performed at intra-cultural social occasions, dances used for representation or presentation, and folk dance performances. Individual chapters center on various immigrant cultures. Chiefly the work focuses on cultural representation and how it is sometimes manipulated. Key folk dance festivals in the United States and Canada are reviewed. Interviews with dancers, teachers, and others offer a first-hand perspective. An extensive bibliography encompasses concert programs and reviews as well as broader scholarly sources.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 078645153X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 262
Book Description
Throughout its history, the United States has become a new home for thousands of immigrants, all of whom have brought their own traditions and expressions of ethnicity. Not least among these customs are folk dances, which over time have become visual representations of cultural identity. Naturally, however, these dances have not existed in a vacuum. They have changed--in part as a response to ever-changing social identities, and in part as a reaction to deliberate manipulations by those within as well as outside of a particular culture. Compiled in great part from the author's own personal dance experience, this volume looks at how various cultures use dance as a visual representation of their identity, and how "traditional" dances change over time. It discusses several "parallel layers" of dance: dances performed at intra-cultural social occasions, dances used for representation or presentation, and folk dance performances. Individual chapters center on various immigrant cultures. Chiefly the work focuses on cultural representation and how it is sometimes manipulated. Key folk dance festivals in the United States and Canada are reviewed. Interviews with dancers, teachers, and others offer a first-hand perspective. An extensive bibliography encompasses concert programs and reviews as well as broader scholarly sources.
Futures of Dance Studies
Author: Susan Manning
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299322408
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 589
Book Description
A collaboration between well-established and rising scholars, Futures of Dance Studies suggests multiple directions for new research in the field. Essays address dance in a wider range of contexts—onstage, on screen, in the studio, and on the street—and deploy methods from diverse disciplines. Engaging African American and African diasporic studies, Latinx and Latin American studies, gender and sexuality studies, and Asian American and Asian studies, this anthology demonstrates the relevance of dance analysis to adjacent fields.
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299322408
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 589
Book Description
A collaboration between well-established and rising scholars, Futures of Dance Studies suggests multiple directions for new research in the field. Essays address dance in a wider range of contexts—onstage, on screen, in the studio, and on the street—and deploy methods from diverse disciplines. Engaging African American and African diasporic studies, Latinx and Latin American studies, gender and sexuality studies, and Asian American and Asian studies, this anthology demonstrates the relevance of dance analysis to adjacent fields.
Romance and Revolution
Author: Clair Symonds
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780986941429
Category : Ballerinas
Languages : en
Pages : 187
Book Description
Set against the glamorous backdrop of the Iranian National Ballet Company in 1970s Tehran, awash with money thanks to the generous patronage of the Shahs wife Farah Pahlavi known as Shahbanu, this is the true story of Clair Symonds, a naive 19 year old Jewish ballet dancer who grew up in South Africa during the era of apartheid and who sets off to Iran without even knowing where that country is, let alone anything about its rich history and culture. Within a few months of her arrival she has met and fallen in love with Arash Alizadeh, a dashing student of architecture five years her senior and whose passion in life, much to his fathers disdain, is classical dance - in addition to being a fierce critic of the Shahs dictatorial regime. Nothing, it seems, can prevent Clair and Arashs romance from moving rapidly towards marriage - even the opposition of their respective fathers. Having been seduced by the charm and allure of her dashing Iranian knight, Clair fails to take a stand against the Alizadeh familys policy of keeping her Jewishness strictly under wraps. There were dark mutterings, even from Arash, of the Holocaust being a myth to justify the existence of Israel and to dampen down sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians. Not that such grand issues are of much concern to Clair - she is preoccupied with dancing the role of Zarema in The Fountain of Bakhchesarai and the great ballet classics which are part and parcel of the companys lavish repertoire. Besides, she is hopelessly in love and any criticisms of Arashs increasingly erratic behaviour fall on deaf ears. But Arash proves to be considerably more charming in courtship and seduction than in wedlock and matrimony - Clair seeing herself thrown into the arms of her new family rather than those of her husband. And in accepting the status quo she reluctantly becomes more sister than wife. Undeterred, Clair decides to marry Arash for a second time. Does love conquer all? Are religious and cultural differences insurmountable, as many would have us believe, meaning that any union between Jew and Muslim is doomed to failure from the outset? 'Romance and Revolution' is the uplifting, eye-opening true story of contemporary relevance of one young womans long, lonely and often painful journey of empowerment as, with the Revolution and the advent of the Ayatollahs in Iran, she begins to search for solutions which, hitherto, have eluded her. Is absolutely any behaviour acceptable relating to romance? Are there any limits at all when it comes to unconditional love?
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780986941429
Category : Ballerinas
Languages : en
Pages : 187
Book Description
Set against the glamorous backdrop of the Iranian National Ballet Company in 1970s Tehran, awash with money thanks to the generous patronage of the Shahs wife Farah Pahlavi known as Shahbanu, this is the true story of Clair Symonds, a naive 19 year old Jewish ballet dancer who grew up in South Africa during the era of apartheid and who sets off to Iran without even knowing where that country is, let alone anything about its rich history and culture. Within a few months of her arrival she has met and fallen in love with Arash Alizadeh, a dashing student of architecture five years her senior and whose passion in life, much to his fathers disdain, is classical dance - in addition to being a fierce critic of the Shahs dictatorial regime. Nothing, it seems, can prevent Clair and Arashs romance from moving rapidly towards marriage - even the opposition of their respective fathers. Having been seduced by the charm and allure of her dashing Iranian knight, Clair fails to take a stand against the Alizadeh familys policy of keeping her Jewishness strictly under wraps. There were dark mutterings, even from Arash, of the Holocaust being a myth to justify the existence of Israel and to dampen down sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians. Not that such grand issues are of much concern to Clair - she is preoccupied with dancing the role of Zarema in The Fountain of Bakhchesarai and the great ballet classics which are part and parcel of the companys lavish repertoire. Besides, she is hopelessly in love and any criticisms of Arashs increasingly erratic behaviour fall on deaf ears. But Arash proves to be considerably more charming in courtship and seduction than in wedlock and matrimony - Clair seeing herself thrown into the arms of her new family rather than those of her husband. And in accepting the status quo she reluctantly becomes more sister than wife. Undeterred, Clair decides to marry Arash for a second time. Does love conquer all? Are religious and cultural differences insurmountable, as many would have us believe, meaning that any union between Jew and Muslim is doomed to failure from the outset? 'Romance and Revolution' is the uplifting, eye-opening true story of contemporary relevance of one young womans long, lonely and often painful journey of empowerment as, with the Revolution and the advent of the Ayatollahs in Iran, she begins to search for solutions which, hitherto, have eluded her. Is absolutely any behaviour acceptable relating to romance? Are there any limits at all when it comes to unconditional love?
Cultural Revolution in Iran
Author: Annabelle Sreberny
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857734407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
The Islamic Republic of Iran is several decades into its existence and the values and legacy of the Revolution upon which it was founded continue to have profound and contradictory consequences for everyday Iranian life. Despite a powerful system of surveillance and control, an extremely lively cultural milieu exists in the country, utilising many different forms of expression, including film, theatre, music and dance. Cultural Revolution in Iran examines the diverse areas of social and cultural innovation that are driving change and progress, both negotiating and resisting government policies and censorship. While religious conservatism remains the creed of the establishment, this volume uncovers a hidden world of new technologies, social media and entertainment that speaks both to women seeking a greater public role and to a restless younger generation that organises and engages with global trends online. In this volume, Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh highlight the huge range of cultural activities which allow Iranians to express themselves, voice their coded opinions in between the 'red lines' of censorship and even engage in social and civil disobedience. From film to rock music and from painting to video games, there is a vast array of cultural expression and dissent that often eludes the international observer. For example, film production in Iran is highThe Islamic Republic of Iran is several decades into its existence and the values and legacy of the Revolution upon which it was founded continue to have profound and contradictory consequences for everyday Iranian life. Despite a powerful system of surveillance and control, an extremely lively cultural milieu exists in the country, utilising many different forms of expression, including film, theatre, music and dance. Cultural Revolution in Iran examines the diverse areas of social and cultural innovation that are driving change and progress, both negotiating and resisting government policies and censorship. While religious conservatism remains the creed of the establishment, this volume uncovers a hidden world of new technologies, social media and entertainment that speaks both to women seeking a greater public role and to a restless younger generation that organises and engages with global trends online. In this volume, Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh highlight the huge range of cultural activities which allow Iranians to express themselves, voice their coded opinions in between the 'red lines' of censorship and even engage in social and civil disobedience. From film to rock music and from painting to video games, there is a vast array of cultural expression and dissent that often eludes the international observer. For example, film production in Iran is high and women directors, such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Samira Makhmalbaf and Manijeh Hekmat, have come to the fore, making both popular but also prize-winning films. In addition to this, there is a vibrant music scene in Iran where many performances occur literally 'underground', in private basements, as illegal activity. Sometimes an audience has to wait patiently in the auditorium for the start of a public performance – for example, to hear Morteza Shafiei conducting the Isfahan Symphony Orchestra – whilst the organisers debate with the authorities as to whether the performance can go ahead or not. It is these activities and modes of communication and expression that are central to this volume, making Cultural Revolution in Iran essential for those researching the modern Iranian state as well as those looking at everyday life and popular culture under authoritarian governments and women directors, such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Samira Makhmalbaf and Manijeh Hekmat, have come to the fore, making both popular but also prize-winning films. In addition to this, there is a vibrant music scene in Iran where many performances occur literally 'underground', in private basements, as illegal activity. Sometimes an audience has to wait patiently in the auditorium for the start of a public performance – for example, to hear Morteza Shafiei conducting the Isfahan Symphony Orchestra – whilst the organisers debate with the authorities as to whether the performance can go ahead or not. It is these activities and modes of communication and expression that are central to this volume, making Cultural Revolution in Iran essential for those researching the modern Iranian state as well as those looking at everyday life and popular culture under authoritarian governments
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857734407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
The Islamic Republic of Iran is several decades into its existence and the values and legacy of the Revolution upon which it was founded continue to have profound and contradictory consequences for everyday Iranian life. Despite a powerful system of surveillance and control, an extremely lively cultural milieu exists in the country, utilising many different forms of expression, including film, theatre, music and dance. Cultural Revolution in Iran examines the diverse areas of social and cultural innovation that are driving change and progress, both negotiating and resisting government policies and censorship. While religious conservatism remains the creed of the establishment, this volume uncovers a hidden world of new technologies, social media and entertainment that speaks both to women seeking a greater public role and to a restless younger generation that organises and engages with global trends online. In this volume, Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh highlight the huge range of cultural activities which allow Iranians to express themselves, voice their coded opinions in between the 'red lines' of censorship and even engage in social and civil disobedience. From film to rock music and from painting to video games, there is a vast array of cultural expression and dissent that often eludes the international observer. For example, film production in Iran is highThe Islamic Republic of Iran is several decades into its existence and the values and legacy of the Revolution upon which it was founded continue to have profound and contradictory consequences for everyday Iranian life. Despite a powerful system of surveillance and control, an extremely lively cultural milieu exists in the country, utilising many different forms of expression, including film, theatre, music and dance. Cultural Revolution in Iran examines the diverse areas of social and cultural innovation that are driving change and progress, both negotiating and resisting government policies and censorship. While religious conservatism remains the creed of the establishment, this volume uncovers a hidden world of new technologies, social media and entertainment that speaks both to women seeking a greater public role and to a restless younger generation that organises and engages with global trends online. In this volume, Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh highlight the huge range of cultural activities which allow Iranians to express themselves, voice their coded opinions in between the 'red lines' of censorship and even engage in social and civil disobedience. From film to rock music and from painting to video games, there is a vast array of cultural expression and dissent that often eludes the international observer. For example, film production in Iran is high and women directors, such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Samira Makhmalbaf and Manijeh Hekmat, have come to the fore, making both popular but also prize-winning films. In addition to this, there is a vibrant music scene in Iran where many performances occur literally 'underground', in private basements, as illegal activity. Sometimes an audience has to wait patiently in the auditorium for the start of a public performance – for example, to hear Morteza Shafiei conducting the Isfahan Symphony Orchestra – whilst the organisers debate with the authorities as to whether the performance can go ahead or not. It is these activities and modes of communication and expression that are central to this volume, making Cultural Revolution in Iran essential for those researching the modern Iranian state as well as those looking at everyday life and popular culture under authoritarian governments and women directors, such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Samira Makhmalbaf and Manijeh Hekmat, have come to the fore, making both popular but also prize-winning films. In addition to this, there is a vibrant music scene in Iran where many performances occur literally 'underground', in private basements, as illegal activity. Sometimes an audience has to wait patiently in the auditorium for the start of a public performance – for example, to hear Morteza Shafiei conducting the Isfahan Symphony Orchestra – whilst the organisers debate with the authorities as to whether the performance can go ahead or not. It is these activities and modes of communication and expression that are central to this volume, making Cultural Revolution in Iran essential for those researching the modern Iranian state as well as those looking at everyday life and popular culture under authoritarian governments