Iran: Islamic Revolution, 1979-1998
(see also Iran, Iran since 1998, Iran: Bahai Community, Iran: Kurdistan, Iran: Azerbaijan, Iran: Afghan Refugees, Iran-Iraq War, Iraq & Iraq: Shi'ites)
Basics
CIA World Factbook. Includes map.
UN Development Program, Human Development Indicators.
On the Web: Articles
Postcard from Mashad: Young Afghan-American Woman Found Iran was "Therapy". Fariba Najab, Youth Outlook [Pacific News] (6/4/97).
On the Web: Specialized Sites
Gooya (News from Iran).
Iran News. Daily general news of Iran & Iranians from four corners of world.
Middle East Research & Information Project. Publishes indispensible MERIP Report.
Payvand. Iran news, directory and bazar.
In the Library: Articles
Abrahamian, Ervand. “Ali Shari'ati: ideologue of the Iranian revolution,” MERIP Reports 102, Islam & Politics (1/82):24-28.
Az. "The women's struggle in Iran," Monthly Review 32,10 (3/81):22-30.
Behrouz, Maziar. "The Iranian Revolution & the failure of the Left," in R. Mathee & B. Baron (eds.) Iran & Beyond (Costa Mesa CA: Mazda, 2000).
Farhang, Mansour. "The limits of zeal," Nation (11/21/88):522-526.
___________. "'Spies' under the Persian rug," Nation (6/26/00):31-35. Review essay on Abrahamian, Tortured Confessions.
Fitzgerald, Frances. “Annals of justice: Iran-Contra,” New Yorker (8/16/89):52-84.
Ghaffari, Reza. "The economic consequences of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran: the political economy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979-1994," Capital & Class 56 (sum 1995):91-116.
Halliday, Fred. "An elusive normalization: Western Europe & the Iranian Revolution," Middle East Journal 48,2 (1994):309-26.
__________. "Post-akhundism in Iran," Index on Censorship 26,4 (7-8/97):38-49.
Lawrence, Bruce B. "Religion, ideology & revolution: the problematical case of post-1979 Iran," in Kliever (ed.) The Terrible Meek (NY, 1987), pp. 60-92.
Mehr, Farhang. "The impact of religion on contemporary politics: the case of Iran," in R.L. Rubinstein (ed.) Spirit Matters (NY, 1987), pp. 124-73.
Miersepassi-Ashtiani, Ali & Valentine M. Moghadam. "The left & political Islam in Iran: a retrospect & prospects," Radical History Review 51 (fall 1991):27-64.
Moallem, Minoo. "The ethnicity of Islamic fundamentalism: the case of Iran," South Asia Bulletin 12,2 (198?).
Moaddel, Mansoor. “Class Struggle in Post-Revolutionary Iran,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3. (8/91):317-343.
Race & Class, special issue on Iranian Revolution 21,1 (sum 1979). Ed. Eqbal Ahmad, arts. by Ahmad, Nikki R. Keddie, Mansour Farhang, Richard Falk, William Dorman, Stuart Schaar & Fred Halliday.
RIPEH: Review of Iranian Political Economy & History, entire series.
Skocpol, Theda. "Rentier state & Shi’a Islam in the Iranian revolution," Theory & Society 11 (1982):265-83.
Storace, Patricia. "A double life in black & white," NY Review (4/7/05):40-43. Wide-ranging review essay on Satrapi, Persepolis.
Tabari, Azar. "The women’s movement in Iran," Feminist Studies 12,2 (sum 1986).
Wright, Robin. "A reporter at large: a Teheran spring," New Yorker (6/22/92).
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Abrahamian, Ervand. Khomeinism. Essays on the Islamic Republic (Berkeley, 1993).
__________. Tortured Confessions: Prisons & Public Recantations in Modern Iran (Berkeley: U. of California, 2000). Persecution by Shah's SAVAK in 1970s, & after 1979, by judges appointed by Ayatollah Khomeini -- especially after failed 1981 revolt by Islamist-Marxist Mojahedin when some 8,000 were executed, & following war with Iraq in 1988.
Arjomand, Said Amir. The Turban for the Crown. The Islamic Revolution in Iran (NY, 1988).
Asayesh, Gelareh. Saffron Sky: A Life Between Iran & America (Boston: Beacon, 1999).
Bani Sadr, Abu al-Hasan. My Turn to Speak: Iran, the Revolution, & Secret Deals with the US (Washington: Brassey's, 1991).
Bayat, Assef. Workers & Revolution in Iran: A Third World Experience of Workers’ Control. (London, 1987).
Cole, Juan R.I. & Nikki R. Keddie (eds.) Shi'ism & Social Protest (New Haven: Yale, 1986).
Deonna, Laurence. On Persian Roads: Glimpses of Revolutionary Iran, 1985-1998 (Pueblo CO: Passeggiata, 1999).
Dorraj, Manochehr. From Zarathustra to Khomeini: Populism & Dissent in Iran (Boulder, 1990).
Esposito, John (ed.) The Iranian Revolution: Its Global Impact (Miami, 1990).
Ghamari-Tabrizi, Behrooz. Islam & Dissent in Post-Revolutionary Iran: Abdolkarim Soroush & the Religious Foundations of Political Reform (London: I.B. Taurus, 2008).
Goode, J. The US & Iran: In the Shadow of Musaddiq (?, 1997)..
Haeri, Shahla. Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage in Shi'a Iran (Syracuse: U. Syracuse, 1989).
Hakakian, Roya. Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran (NY: Crown, 2004).
Kelley, Ron (ed.) Irangeles: Iranians in Los Angeles (Berkeley: U. California, 1993).
Keddie, Nikki R. (ed.) Religion & Politics in Iran: Shi'ism from Quietism to Revolution (New Haven: Yale, 1983).
__________ & Eric Hooglund (eds.) The Iranian Revolution & the Isamic Republic (Syracuse NY: Syracuse U., 1986).
__________ & Mark J. Gasiorowski (eds.) Neither East nor West: Iran, the Soviet Union & the US (New Haven: Yale, 1990).
__________. Iran & the Muslim World: Resistance & Revolution (NY: NYU, 1995).
__________ & Rudi Mathee (eds.) Iran & the Surrounding World: Interactions in Culture & Cultural Politics (Seattle: U. of Washington, 2002).
__________. Modern Iran: Roots & Results of Revolution (New Haven: Yale, 2003).
Iyer, Pico. Abandon (NY: Knopf, 2003).
Moaveni, Azadeh. Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America & American in Iran (NY: Public Affairs, 2005).
Halm, Heinz. Shi’a Islam: From Religion to Revolution (Princeton, 1996).
Harris, David. The Crisis: The President, the Prophet, & the Shah. 1979 & the Coming of Militant Islam (Boston: Little, Brown, 2004).
Haynes, Jeff. Religion in Third World Politics (Boulder, 1994). Chap. on Iranian Revolution.
Hiro, Dilip. Iran Under the Ayatollahs (London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul, 1985).
__________. Iran: The Revolution Within (London: Centre for Security & Conflict Studies, 1988).
__________. Neighbors, Not Friends: Iraq & Iran after the Gulf War (NY: Routledge, 2001).
Hunter, Shireen T. Iran & the World: Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade (Bloomington: Indiana U, 1990).
Keddie, Nikki R. Iran & the Muslim World: Resistance & Revolution (NY, 1995).
__________ & Eric Hoogland (eds.) The Iranian Revolution & the Islamic Republic (Syracuse, 1986).
Milani, Mohsen M. The Making of Iran's Islamic Revolution. From Monarchy to Islamic Republic (Boulder: Westview, 1994).
__________. The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution (?, 2000).
Moaddel, Mansoor. Class, Politics & Ideology in the Iranian Revolution (NY: Columbia, 1993).
Mottadeh, Roy. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion & Politics in Iran (NY, 1985).
Rahnema, Ali. An Islamic Utopian. A Political Biography of Ali Shari’ati (NY, 1998).
Rajaee, Sarhang (ed.) The Iran Iraq War: The Politics of Aggression (Gainesville, 1993).
Ramazani, R.K. Revolutionary Iran: Challenge & Response in the Middle East (Baltimore, 198?).
Riesebrodt, Martin. Pious Passion: The Emergence of Modern Fundamentalism in the U.S. & Iran (Berkeley, 1993).
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (NY: Pantheon, 2003). Comic-book memoir of an aristocratic childhood before & during Islamic Revolution.
__________. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return (NY: Pantheon, 2004). Comic-book memoir of Iranian girl's adolescence in Catholic private school in Austria, & return to life of Tehran university student under Islamic Revolution.
Saeed-Vafa, Mehrnaz & Jonathan Rosenbaum. Abbas Kiarostami (Urbana: U. of Illinois, 2003).
Shari’ati, Ali. On the Sociology of Islam (Berkeley, 1979).
Shirley, Edward. Know Thine Enemy: A Spy's Journey into Revolutionary Iran (Boulder: Westview, 1998).
In the Library: Fiction
Amirshahi, Mahsid. Suri & Co.: Tales of a Persian Teenager (trans. J.E. Knorzer; Austin: U. Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 1995).
Bishetab, Javad. Rexy (trans. Henri Marolleau; Paris: Gil Wern, 1996).
Chubak, Sadiq. The Patient Stone (trans. M.R. Ghanoonparvar; Costa Mesa CA: Mazda, 1989).
Danishvar, Simin. Daneshvar's Playhouse: A Collection of Stories (Washington: Mage, 1989).
__________. A Persian Requiem: A Novel (trans. Roxane Zand; NY: Braziller, 1992).
__________. Sutra & Other Stories (trans. Hasan Javadi & Amin Neshati; Washington: Mage, 1994).
__________. Savushun: A Novel about Modern Iran (trans. M.R. Ghanoonparvar; Washington: Mage, 2001).
Desai, Boman. The Memory of Elephants (Chicago: U. Chicago, 2001).
Fassih, Esmail. Sorraya in a Coma [1984] (London, 1985). Iranian Revolution, exile. war against Iraq.
Firouz, Anahita. In the Walled Gardens: A Novel (Boston: Little, Brown, 2002).
Green, John & Farzin Yazdanfar (ed.) A Walnut Sapling on Masih's Grave & Other Stories by Iranian Women (Portsmouth NH: Heinemann, 1993).
Irani, Manuchehr. King of the Benighted (trans. Abbas Milani; Washington: Mage, 1990).
Johnson, Diane. Persian Nights (NY: Knopf, 1987).
Khorrami, Mohammed Mehdi & Shkouleh Vatanabadi (ed. & trans.) A Feast in the Mirror: Stories by Contemporary Iranian Women (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2000).
Khudayri, Batul. A Sky So Close (trans. Muhayman Jamil; NY: Pantheon, 2001).
Koenig, Joseph. Brides of Blood (NY: Grove, 1993).
Lewis, Franklin & Farzin Yazdanfar (ed. & trans.) In a Voice of Their Own: A Collection of Stories by Iranian Women Written Since the Revolution of 1979 (Costa Mesa CA: Mazda, 1996).
Modarressi, Taghi. The Pilgrim's Rules of Etiquette (NY: Doubleday, 1989).
Moshiri, Farnoosh. At the Wall of the Almighty: A Novel (NY: Interlink, 2000).
__________. The Bathhouse (NY: Beacon, 2003).
Nahai, Gina Barkhordar. Cry of the Peacock [1991] (NY: Washington Square, 2000).
__________. Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith (NY: Harcourt Brace, 1999).
O'Donnell, Terence. Seven Shades of Memory (Washington: Mage, 1999).
Pakravan, Saideh. The Arrest of Hoveyda: Stories of the Iranian Revolution (Costa Mesa CA: Blind Owl, 1998).
Parsi'pur, Shahrnush. Women without Men: A Novella (trans. Kamran Talattof & Jocelyn Sharet; Syracuse: Syracuse U, 1998).
Pari, Susanne. The Fortune Catcher (NY: Warner, 1997).
Parvin, Manoucher. Cry for my Revolution, Iran (Costa Mesa CA: Mazda, 1987).
Pizishkzad, Iraj. My Uncle Napoleon: A Novel (trans. Dick Davis; Washington: Mage, 1996).
Rabinyan, Dorit. Persian Brides: A Novel (trans. Yael Lotan; NY: Braziller, 1998).
Rachlin, Nahid. Married to a Stranger (NY: Dutton, 1983).
__________. The Heart's Desire: A Novel (San Francisco: City Lights, 1995).
Raffat, Donne. The Folly of Speaking: The Seventh Tale (Costa Mesa CA: Blind Owl, 2000).
Raskin, Barbara. Current Affairs (NY: Random House, 1990).
Rufin, Jean-Christophe. The Siege of Isfahan (NY: Norton, 2001).
Shirazi, Manny. Siege of Azadi Square (London: Women's, 1991).
Sullivan, Soraya Paknazar (trans.) Stories by Iranian Women since the Revolution (Austin: U. Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 1991).
Yalfani, Mihri. Two Sisters: Stories (Toronto: TSAR, 2000).
In the Library: For Young Readers
Napoli, Donna Jo. Beast (NY: Atheneum, 2000).
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"The Apple," dir. Samira Makhmalbaf. Documentary dir. by 17-year old woman about 12-year old twin sisters locked up from birth, & father who sought to "protect" them. Fable of contemporary Iran, & constraints on women everywhere. Rev. Nation (3/8/99).
"Beyond the Fire" [1988], dir. Kianoush Ayyari.
"Children of Heaven," dir. Majid Majidi.
"Close Up" [1990], dir. Abbas Kiarostami.
"The Evolution of Revolution: Live from Tehran" [1999], by ABC News, 73m. From Films for the Humanities & Sciences. Changes in Iran & US-Iranian relations since hostage crisis of 1979.
"Gabbeh," dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1996). Fairy-tale romance drawn from a brightly colored rug. Review in Nation (6/30/97).
"Hamoon" [1990], dir. Dariush Mehrjui.
"Kakoli/The Crested Hen" [1990], dir. Ferial Behzad.
"Leila" [1999], dir. Dariush Mehrjui, 129m. From First Run Features. "Barren" woman's mother-in-law urges husband to take a second wife & produce an heir.
"Life & Nothing More (or "And Life Goes On)" [1992], dir. Abbas Kiarostami. Father & son travel from Tehran to village of Koker to see if the two boys introduced in have survived the 1990 earthquake.
"Lost Time" [1990], dir. Puran Derakhshandeh. Critique of patriarchy focussed on life of a sterile woman who cares for an orphan girl.
"The Mirror" [1997], dir. Jafar Panahi. A girls wanders in town after her mother fails to pick her up after school, listening to garrulous grownups gab about social issued.
"Mokarremeh, Memories & Dreams" [1999], dir. Ebrahim Mokhtari, 48m. First Run/Icarus. Profile of a widowed rural woman who became a notable painter.
"A Moment of Innocence," dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Review in Nation (10/21/96). Returns to the past with an ex-policeman whom the director actually stabbed as a young revolutionary in 1974.
"Nargess" [1992], dir. Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.
"The Need" [1991], dir. Amreza Davudnezhad.
"The Peddlar" [1987], dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
"Persepolis" [2007], dir. Vincent Parronaud & Marjane Satrapi, 95m. Animated memoir of a spirited young Iranian woman, life under the Shah, underthe revolutionary regime & abroad in 1970's , 80's & 90's.
"The Runners" [1991], dir. Amir Naderi.
"Salaam Cinema" [1994], dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
"Snake Fang" [1990], dir. Massoud Kimiai.
"The Taste of Cherry" [1997?], dir. Abbas Kiarostami. A middle-aged man searches Tehran for someone willing to assist him in committing suicide.
"Through the Olive Trees" [1995?], dir. Abbas Kiarostami. Examines making of a small scene from "Life & Nothing More".
"Time of Love" [ 199?], dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
"Where is My Friend’s Home?" [1987], dir. Abbas Kiarostami. Boy travels from village of Koker to nearby village in an effort to return a schoolmate's notebook.
"The Wind Will Carry Us" [1999?], dir. Abbas Kiarostami. Journalists arrive at Kurdish village to record mourning rituals, but are obliged to slow down & enjoy the life of the place when the deceased turns out still to be alive.
"The White Balloon" [1995], dir. Jafar Panahi. Beautifully simple real-time story of little girl's quest to buy plump white goldfish before Tehran closes for New Year; documents street life in Tehran.