Representing the Unpresentable: Historical Images of National Reform from the Qajars to the Islamic Republic of Iran

Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East

by Negar Mottahedeh

In this pioneering book, Negar Mottahedeh explores the central issues of vision and visibility in Iranian culture. The author focuses on historical, visual, and literary texts to understand the use of visual culture in the production of the contemporary nation. Tracing the historical mediation and dissemination of ideas for national reform in the modern period of Iran, the book examines the various discourses that have constituted the image of the "Babi".
As cinema began to displace other forms of Iranian entertainment, Islamic culture attempted to keep the motion picture industry free from what was perceived as the taint of foreign values and intervention. With rich insight and compelling detail, Mottahedeh looks at the revealing ways in which Iranian cinema has dealt with representing the unrepresentable. In her exploration of gender and Iranian film, the author powerfully argues against contemporary uses of veiling in the representation of Iran as a modern nation. This highly original work, signaling a paradigmatic shift in Iranian studies and gender studies, will be an invaluable resource for scholars.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2007