The Women of Deh Koh: Lives in an Iranian Village

by Erika Friedl

“Masterful . . . absorbing. This finely written book gives us a whole new sense of Iran.”— The Washington Post Book World
 
While doing research in the Iranian village of Deh Koh, Erika Friedl was able to quietly observe and record the cloistered lives of women in one of the strictest of all Muslim societies. In this fascinating book, Friedl recounts these women’s personal stories as they relate the strain of their daily activities, their intricate relationships with men, and their hopes, dreams, and fears. Women of Deh Koh is a rare and vivid look at what life is really like for the women of Iran.
 
“Her intimate understanding of the life and customs of the village has made her confident about conveying her view from the inside. To share this view with us, and to comment quietly and wisely on the scene, is the striking and illuminating achievement of Women of Deh Koh .”— The New York Times Book Review

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Iran, Ethnography, Middle East

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best ethnographies ever written

As a student, graduate student, and professional, I have been reading anthropology for over 50 years. Some of that reading is necessarily in theory, in books that deal with new ideas and concepts or attempt to overturn the old. But, to broaden one's horizons, to keep abreast of how people are writing, and to get material to use for classes, an anthropologist has to read a certain number of ethnographies every year. So, I suppose I may say, however immodestly, that I have read quite a few ethnographies. A lot, actually. Of all such books that I have read in the last fifty years, I would say that Friedl's WOMEN OF DEH KOH ranks in the top three or four. I never read a review of it, I stumbled on it in a bookstore, I am not an Iran-specialist. But this is just a gem of a book. If you want to understand the workings of an Iranian village, not from the usual anthropological perspective of neat categorizations and summings-up of the ethnographer's work, but from poetical prose that seems to come from the womens' mouths, then you must read this book. The author allows the women to speak more than almost anyone else I have ever read. The book could be a novel, but it is not at all, the author defines her presence, explains how she wrote the book. It is divided into 12 chapters, each devoted to a separate woman, but the others appear again and again, fleshing out the bones of the story, making the village come alive in their interactions. Any student of anthropology would love to read this book and for teachers it is an excellent ethnography to show what the field is really all about. If you have nothing to do with anthropology, but are interested in Iran or, if you are just surfing around looking for a good book, choose this one !
Oh, God, if You could only have let me write like Erika Friedl !

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friedl gives one of the best and most empathetic studies of traditional village women's lives. She lets the women explain their struggles, accomplishments, and frustrations, as their lives were in the 1980s. For example, she finds that many village girls went to school until about grade three, then were forced to drop out before they grew sexually attractive, to protect them from aroused males. But it seems this concern to avoid sexual abuse commonly went hand-in-hand with desire to exploit the girls for cheap or free labor:

"… locally, women are said to 'belong in the house,' yet one sees many women out on apparently legitimate errands, often all day and far from home … a girl is taken out of school after third grade because it is not right for her to be among strangers, but the next day she is working in an outpost camp in the mountains, in full view of women, men, relatives, and strangers alike." (p. 196)

Where we might expect to find retiring, victimized women, Friedl describes a host of feisty, hard-working, commonly bossy women: “in everyday life …, men commonly admit that their wives or mothers control everything in the household—being omniscient, respected, feared and loved, all at the same time—like the stereotypical Jewish mother.” (p. 151)

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of a few that doesn't play directly to Western ideas about the lives of Middle Eastern Women which are more complex that we are told. While oppression is still trying to cover, strangle, rape and kill these women, intellectual resources despite abject poverty and lack of education, strong familial ties and some aspects of tradition also help to save them. This book is respectful, honest and powerful.

[Kallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall this is a poetic, disturbing tribute to these women. Friedl beautifully compiles and edits their voices. So much in their lives depends on luck -- on how lucky they are in terms of parents, husbands, in-laws. Because they are women they have little control over their lives and must be clever and resourceful to make the most of the choices luck affords them. My favorite chapter was 'Huri on Beads, Stringing a Necklace of Embers.' It's fitting that Friedl made that the last chapter because Huri gives a philosophical account of what being a woman means in this village, and probably just about any society that is strictly patriarchal. I admire these women, especially those who manage to make a place of their own in the world described, and wonder if I would fare so well. I also felt very, very thankful for my relative freedom to choose how I live and fervently hope that society doesn't drag women back to this sort of existence, completely dominated by men who may or may not mean well by them.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women of Deh Koh left me with many different feelings and questions. Set in a small village in Iran, the books tells the stories of women in Iran some before and after the Iranian revolution of 1979. I questioned why these women continued to let men treat them that way, I felt bad for their lives and the degrading way they were treated. But I realized I couldn't compare them to westernized ideas of how women should act and be treated. I often felt like these women were unhappy, not realizing that this is the only lifestyles they knew so they were not able to compare them to anything better. I think this book showed me that before I start judging their customs I should first realize where they come from and understand that their lifestyles are for them alone and to not compare them to my idea of femininity.

[Yusuf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bir etnografi, araştırma ve anlatım harikası. Sadece 2014'te değil, son yıllarda okuduğum en güzel kitaplardan bir tanesi. Bunun ötesinde, kitabın tarzı, etnografik bir araştırmanın sunumu açısından da ufuk açıcı. Bunun bir örneği Demet Dinler'in İşçinin Varlık Problemi kitabıysa, bir diğer örneği de Oktay Özel'in Türkiye 1643 kitabıdır.

[dianne b. · Rating 4 out of 5]

an amazing look at how, under a regime that limits them tremendously, women find a way to survive and sometimes thrive, in a small Iranian mountain village. Totally riveting.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this. I was hoping for a sociological study of some depth, with context and scope. This is actual individual stories told as vignettes; romanticized window-peeping instead of insight.

[Mike Clinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book examines the situations and perspectives of women living in an Iranian village during the period just before and after the revolution of 1979. The different chapters present stories centered around specific women in the (pseudonymous) Deh Koh, although these and others also often figure in the other chapters, since lives in this community intersect regularly. Sometimes the stories are told in a first-person narrative, other times from a third-person perspective. These stories run the gamut of everyday life in that particular place and particular time; however, they also convey a human sense that transcends the particularity of context. Even though this is a relatively short book (around 235 pp.), it took me a long time to complete, in part due to lack of free reading time but also perhaps because the flow of the book didn't keep me compelled. That may be due more to my personal lack of engagement, though, rather than the quality and intrinsic interest of the book.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book. I learned answers to questions about a wonderful, complicated culture that I had not even thought to ask until after reading this book. I loved this book. I wish I could find a copy to own.

[dead letter office · Rating 3 out of 5]

a look at women's lives in a part of the world i've never been to. interesting.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice anthropology. The stories told here are real, touching, and actually hilarious sometimes.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look into the culture of many women in the middle east who have not really been touched by western culture.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book with great insight into the lives of these women. One of my favorite areas of history to study is women's history, and this book is awesome for that!

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a mostly fascinating behind the scenes look at what being a woman in a small Iranian village is like. And the takeaway is pretty harrowing. At the mercy of parents, husband, societal pressures, there’s little free will to be found. The women sometimes take care of each other, but those societal pressures frequently prevent even that. Early marriage, baby after baby, domestic violence. There seems to be little marital love, even after years together. This book was first published in 1988, but there’s no big indication that village life has changed much in the last 30 years.

[Unwisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a series of stories from the lives of women in a fairly isolated village in Iran. Published in 1989, dunno how relevant it is to now.

[Asma Alothman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous and entertaining. Like an Iranian "Desperate Housewife" version.

[Mahboobeh]

ok