Reflections on Literature after the 1979 Revolution in Iran and in the Diaspora

This essay highlights the changes in literature in Iran and in the diaspora since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and it especially emphasizes the role of literature and writers in responding to the societal changes in Iran, as well as to the experience of immigration to the West. The role of women writers, in particular, is suggestive of the ways in which the revolution has enabled new voices to emerge even despite the restrictive and repressive policies of the Islamic Republic. Women have been at the forefront of the literature of the diaspora and have taken opportunities to narrate and represent their experiences, becoming the progenitors of a literary movement in the West. This literature of diaspora has reflected the tensions of Iran's relationships with the West, but it has also begun to point to a shift that reflects a more transnational perspective.