Memorii din închisoare

by Shahrnush Parsipur, شهرنوش پارسی‌پور (a.k.a), Cristina Ciovarnache (trad.)

Cu o cariera literara inceputa inca de la 16 ani, o diploma in sociologie la Universitatea din Teheran si un post de producator de televiziune, Shahrnush Parsipur parea ca va avea o viata linistita si implinita. Si-a dat insa demisia din televiziune in semn de protest fata de executarea a doi jurnalisti de catre SAVAK si din acel moment au inceput problemele. A fost inchisa citeva luni, iar aceasta nu a fost singura perioada pe care a petrecut-o in inchisorile iraniene. In urma revolutiei din 1979, cind foarte multi civili au fost arestati si executati, Shahrnush Parsipur a ajuns din greseala intr-o inchisoare politica. Desi nu i s-a adus vreo acuzatie oficiala, a ramas acolo patru ani si sapte luni, timp in care a fost martora directa a tehnicilor de intimidare si anihilare a opozantilor regimului fundamentalist. Hartuita si dupa iesirea din inchisoare, cu sanatatea profund afectata, a ales in cele din urma calea exilului.

Genres: Iran, Nonfiction, Memoir, History, Biography, Biography Memoir, Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

(Persian: شهرنوش پارسی‌پور)

Reviews

[Sara Hosseini · Rating 3 out of 5]

شهرنوش پارسی‌پور، که بسیار ازش خوشم میاد و نویسنده-روشنفکر مهمی می‌دونمش، این کتاب رو به امید بزرگداشت اعدامی‌های جمهوری اسلامی نوشته و «روح کتاب»‌ رو به شهیدان «جنگ بی‌هویت» ایران و عراق تقدیم کرده. بعد هم اضافه می‌کنه که دوست داشته کتاب رو به کشته‌شدگان عراقی هم تقدیم کنه اما فکر کرده این هدیه کوچک‌تر از این حرف‌هاست. روایت‌های پارسی‌پور از فضای ایران پس‌ از انقلاب و زندان‌هایی که رفته، تکان‌دهنده و هولناک و مهمه. ممکنه نظرات و تحلیل‌های نویسنده یه جاهایی تو ذوق بزنه یا تکرار مکررات به‌نظر بیاد ولی اهمیت اون روایت‌ها همچنان سر جای خودش باقیه.

[Saman · Rating 3 out of 5]

بهتر آن باشد كه سر دلبران
گفته آيد در حديث ديگران

[Akram Khatam]

خاطرات زندان
شهرنوش پارسی‌پور
خاطرات بسیاری از زندان های ایران در دهه ۶۰ نوشته شده است ولی این کتاب از این نظر مهم است که زندان را از نگاه یک دیگری که هیچ اتهامی ندارد و سیاسی نیست می نگریم .شهرنوش به مدت چهار سال و هفت ماه را در زندانهای قزل حصار و اوین گذراند و در اسفند ۶۴ آزاد شد. او صرفا بخاطر وجود نشریات سیاسی متعلق به برادرش این دوران را گذراند. او در سال‌های آتی مدتی را نیز در زندان مواد مخدر سپری کرد.
مقاومت او در زندان آسیب‌های بسیار به او می زند .حاج داود رئیس بشدت بدنام زندان قزل حصار او را برای مدتی به تابوت‌هایی که جهنم واقعی بود می فرستد .شهرنوش در این دوره از گریه زنانی می گوید که با گریه های روضه خوانی فرق دارد .این گریه‌ها حکایت از شکستن و بریدن و به انتها رسیدن دارد.
در کتاب شاهد نقد او به مجاهدین و زندانیان چپ هستیم .
او درک نمی کند که چطور مجاهدین بخاطر سر نکردن چادر سیاه اجباری زندان حاضر به شکنجه شدیدند ولی با چادر نماز مشکلی ندارند .چون دومی پوشش مردم است و اولی اجبار زندانبان. چادر برای نویسنده مفهومی جز نفی آزادی پوشش ندارد. او بعلت نگاه هنرمندانه و حساسیت تئاتری‌اش براحتی متوجه توبه تاکتیکی مجاهدین ( ناشی از سرکوب شدید)می شود و وقتی این توابین او را بخاطر بی‌حجابی و نماز نخواندن نجس می خوانند بطور خصوصی به آنها میگوید که چه ریایی در پست این اتهاماتشان است.
زندانیان چپ در صورت اعلام عدم همکاری با جریان سیاسی خود آزاد می شدند.
نویسنده از اعلام فروپاشی عملی کشورهای کمونیستی و تغییر سیاست ۱۸۰ درجه ای آنها به زندانیان می گفت و تشویقشان می‌کرد که زندگی را در بیرون زندان تجربه کنند و آنها باور نمیکردند و به زندگی بسیار سخت و بدور از تنقلات زندان ادامه می دادند.
شهرنوش بخاطر کتابش “ زنان بدون مردان” هم مدتی را در زندان جرائم مواد مخدر گذراند چون در این کتاب به مساله بکارت و اهمیت آن در جامعه پرداخته بود و حکومت انرا غیر اخلاقی می دانست .تصاویر او از خشونتی که زندگی زنان درگیر مواد مخدر و قتل را در خود فرو برده از برجستگی های گاه بشدت آزار دهنده کتاب است که کمتر از آن می دانیم.
در زندان شاهد بیماری اعصاب و روان شهرنوش هستیم که بعد از زندان و سخنرانی های متعددش در غرب شکل حادی بخود می گیرد و اشباحی از دختران اعدامی او را در این سفر رها نمی کند. متاسفانه اخیرا نیز این بیماری شکل حادی گرفته است .

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful prison memoir: the author first goes to prison in the early days of the Islamic revolution. She spends four or five years in prison, with short breaks living "free" in revolutionary Iran. She describes herself as a secular democrat, so she doesn't fit in with any of the political prisoners with whom she is housed. I was struck by her compassion for the women with whom she is imprisoned and the women guards. Even though she describes how her experiences made her insane, she is so reasonable in her descriptions of Iranian society and post revolutionary life. This is an amazing book and it made me want to read Parsipur's fiction.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

در مورد "بانوان نویسنده" در وبلاگ گودریدز، یک مطلب کلی نوشته ام و تا اندازه ای به همه ی آثارشان اشاره کرده ام، پس نیازی به "ریویو"ی جداگانه نیست، اگر مایلید، اینجا را بخوانید؛
http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

[Esther Bradley-detally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart rending story, totally believable unfortunately. The courage of the author Shahbrnush Parsipur is tremendous. It is horrible what Iran is doing to its fellow citizens.

[Sofie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This: seamless, petrifying.

Parsipur is, as she writes, unburdening herself through this memoir, from the weight of girls shot to death in the prison courtyards of Iran.

'Their attitude reminded me of the Greek myth of Procrustes who on the sacred pass between Athens and Eleusis had an iron bed in which he invited travelers to spend the night. If the guest was too short, he would stretch him to the exact length of the bed and if the guest was too tall he would cut off his legs.' (63)

'Perhaps there is some logic to the illogical actions of the insane. If one can bering hundreds of executed youth back to life by standing up all night, then one should stand up all night.' (200)

[Adrian]

Iranian writer Parsipur's memoir of being in prison after the Revolution in 1979 is perhaps a bit dated now but as a lover of the genre I had to read it. She was arrested and sent to prison four times. Her longest stretch was four years and seven months. She was never charged. Some periodicals were found in the trunk of a family car and that was enough for authorities to send Parsipur and her mother away. Women were not coddled in prison. Torture happened, execution was common. The religious craziness of Iran at the time- has it changed much?- is well documented. Imprisonment caused Parsipur mental difficulties. In the early 1990s she finally managed to get out of Iran and settled in northern California.

[Ursula · Rating 5 out of 5]

A disturbingly important must read! In her memoir, Shahrnush Parsipur has an amazing ability to transcend the suffering she endured in and out of prison in Iran.

I’m typically not a fan of memoirs, but this is an astonishingly powerful tale of the horrors sadly suffered by many when a corrupt government assumes the reigns of power.

FDR famously said that courage is not the absence of fear but knowing an action you take may put you at risk and yet still taking it because there is something more important at stake than your own fear. Nothing could embody this more than the courage and strength Parsipur recounts in “Kissing the Sword.”

This is one of those books you won’t soon forget.

[Luz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gripping and profound narrative offers a vivid account of Iranian prisons in the 1980s. Shahmush, a non-conformist who fervently championed free speech, found herself repeatedly imprisoned without clear justification. While I won't delve further into the harrowing details of her ordeals, it's worth noting that the writing is both eloquent and transparent, leaving readers deeply reflective.

[Kamran Sehgal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simply mesmerizing prison memoir from Iran. The author gives us a first person glance at the horrors of prison life, including the infamous Evin prison, and the arbitrary nature of "justice" in the Islamic republic.
Short and sweet it is hauntingly necessary to read in light of the ongoing horrors of the Islamic Republic's regime in Iran.

Also I am not sure but curious as to why most of the Persian reviews are negative on this work.

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

She was an important writer and TV producer.
In 1979, the Islamic Republic jailed her without trial or accusation of crime - in horrific conditions and tortured for years. She was released on parole, imprisoned, released, imprisoned for years more systematic torture in the 90’s.
1994, she got out of Iran and wrote this memoir.

[Eschad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A staggering testimony. I am humbled by Parsipur's heroic witnessing.

[Betsy Starks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The horrors of prison life in Iran after the fall of the Shah. This book makes you feel the powerlessness of women, particularly a writer with a good mind, whose mind is nearly destroyed.

[Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrowing memoir of author brings tears to your eyes and how humans survive at extreme atrocities!

[Anonymous Writer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Citind această carte, am rămas cuprinsă de un sentiment ambiguu și paradoxal, aflat între uimire și cutremur. Epilogul cărții a constituit o frescă tenebroasă, dar realistă a sacrificiului tinerilor iranieni, un imn al istoriei necruțătoare. În acest sens, autoarea a încercat să își contureze propria poveste, făcând aluzie la istorie. Cronica autoarei este mai mult decât o istorisire personală. Este un document istoric autentic, făcând din acestă relatare o cronică a poporului iranian contemporan, aflat pe culmile instabilității politice.

Iranul conturat de autoare pare să fie iadul. Închisorile politice din aceea perioadă tumultoasă devin porțile către iad pentru mulți cetățeni. Nu numai că sunt privați de libertate, dar au și ocazia de a fi martorii unor execuții. Femeile sunt la fel de vinovate precum bărbații, nescăpând de chinul barbariei necruțătoare. În acest sens, destinul scriitoarei pare să fie aproape dostoievskian. O femeie ce ajunge în închisorile politice numai din cauza paranoiei unei coalaiții autoritare. Ceea ce merită remarcat este, și în acest caz, cenzura scriitorilor. Totalitarismul își pune amprenta prin această tăcere impusă cu forța.
Este uimitor cum aceste timpuri par să fie aproape suprarealiste, ireale, privite de către cei din societatea vestică. Această societate iraniană pare să fie desprinsă din romanele lui Kafka. Predomină o atmosferă cenușie, aprope absurdă, iar civilii par să cadă victime unui destin existențial absurd, fără logică, care dă într-un umor negru. Astfel, autoarea descrie cu lux de amănunte detalii legate de Poliția Moravurilor și motivele aproape absurde care îi fac pe aceștia să închidă oameni nevinovați, un exemplu fiind o tânără obeză ce fusese arestată fiindcă meregea într-un mod ciudat. Pe de o parte, iți vine să râzi datorită absurdității, iar, pe de altă parte, plângi datorită injustiției ridicate la rang de artă.

Primele dăți, autoarea este închisă în diferite închisori politice ce descriu mici grupuri de femei ce ajung să trăiască în captivitate. Grupul este surprins în activitățile cotidiene, naratoarea preluând parcă o perspectivă aproape antropologică. Ea nu își uită studiile de sociolog și este, de multe ori, o mediatoare între diferite persoane. Alteori, ea este profesoară de franceză, indicând înclinațiile intelectuale ale femeilor iraniene captive. Gardenii sunt, la rândul lor, menționați în treacăt, ei sunt prezențe mai fantomatice.

Ultima închisoare în care ajunge scriitoarea este o închisoare de femei, închise pentru trafic de droguri și alte delicte penale. Ajunge aici după ce scrie într-un roman despre un subiect tabuu pentru societatea islamică. Culmea ironiei este că personajul ei era o prostituată, iar ea nu se întâlnise cu niciuna înainte. Însă acest lăcaș al sufletelor pierdute conturează o societate cu mult diferită de cele anterioare. Aceasta fiind pătura de jos a sociatății, o lume a sărăciei și a viciului, dar care nu iși pierde umanitatea. Este posibil ca autoritățile să fi avut în vedere acest lucru, trimițând-o acolo pentru a-și bate joc de ea.

Ceea ce merită remarcat este tăria de caracter a celei care iși descrie amintirile. Fără să exagereze, redând cu autenticitate toate întâmplările prin care a trecut, ea reușește să își păstreze integritatea sufletească și demnitatea. Nu are libertatea de a se revolta, încercă să accepte situațiile, însă se înarmează cu spiritul caustic al unui biruitor al adevărului. Se consieră socialistă, democrată, pledând pentru drepturile umane. Este plină de curaj, însă ieșirea din închisoare o zdruncină la nivel psihologic. Are o cădere nervoasă, și chiar se pot identifica elementele unui psihoze incipiente. Aceasta este, fără îndoială, consecința unui sistem totalitar halucinant. Într-un final, ea nu renunță la Cuvânt, aceasta fiind arma ei de bază, amintindu-ne de povestea uimitoarei Șeherezada, portretul ei folcloric rămânând atât în imaginarul oriental, cât și în cel universal.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the early 1970's I had the chance to meet quite a number of radical Iranians who were members of the Iranian Student Association. They were hard-working, supportive comrades. When the Iranian Revolution took place, I heard that many of them returned to Iran to build a secular, socialist society.

Author Parsipur confirms the stories that I heard, that many of these students were arrested and executed by the conservative religious forces that took power after the fall of the Shah.

While I would have liked to learn more about the various partisans whom Parsipur met in the prisons, this is a clearly written account of her struggle against the dehumanizing conduct of the religious fundamentalists who still rule Iran.

[Shivaji Das · Rating 3 out of 5]

From one of Iran's well known writers; this is an account of her unfortunate multiple imprisonments and her life in the prison. The description of life in captivity is vivid: how it dulls the mind, how it brings out the worst in human nature, and most depressingly, how indignities slowly become acceptable. Some background about the multiple political ideologies of the prisoners would have been useful. Also, Parsipur largely talks about her own experience, going deeper behind the lives of the various people she encountered, would have made the book richer. An intriguing remark from Parsipur: The jailed is always superior than the jailor.

[Akeiisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parsipur was imprisioned multiple times by the Iranian government. This memoir recounts her multiple incarcerations during and following the Cultural Revolution. An unsentimental look at the brutalities and indecencies of prison in a repressive regime, which includes surprising moments of humor and kindness. While Parsipur is candid about how her mental health deteriorated during and following her time in prison and her efforts to write and be published, she doesn't otherwise reveal much about herself or how her family fared while she was incarcerated.

A 3.5 out of 5

[Seyed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not all that, especially when compared to her "طوبي و معناي شب"

[elmira · Rating 4 out of 5]

for an iranian born in 1980s and beyond this book is a must read. memoir of prison is a accurate history of 1979 revolution ...

[Mills College Library]

891.5583 P266 2013

[Matt Jex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iran sucks

[Jude Li-Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder if every imprisoned intellectual thinks about Camus, Sisyphus, the freedom of a crushing necessity, and the lightness of being otherwise.