On-Campus Event

For my on-campus event, I attended the Writer’s Voice, with Azar Nafisi. It was incredibly interesting and inspirational. During her speech, she did not talk too explicitly about her book, Reading Lolita in Tehran, but she did make various references to the literature featured in it, such as Lolita and some works of Jane Austen. For the most part though, she lectured on culture, both here and in Iran. I found this to be exceptionally captivating and, surprisingly, very pertinent to many of my interests. I enjoy literature, but as a Sociology minor and a Political Science major, I really like to learn about culture, the role it plays in government, and how problems are created and then solved. Her analysis of the cultural polarization between the United States and Iran was incredibly insightful. The part of her speech that I found most interesting was when she was talking about how often Americans only associate the Middle East with headscarves, or Islamic fundamentalism, or crazy rulers like Ahmadinejad. She compared it to a scenario in which Iranians would only associate America with McDonalds or George Bush. It was a startling way to look at the cultural divide; I never realized how much of Middle Eastern culture is marginalized, and how overemphasized the (perceived) negative aspects, such as headscarves, of Middle Eastern culture are in the media and in our own opinions and stereotypes. Even the stereotypes that are overemphasized are often misconstrued. Nafisi discussed the issue of headscarves, and how in some places they are mandatory, like in Iran during a brief period, but how often they are simply the choice of a woman, who chooses to follow that aspect of Islam.        

She put a great deal of emphasis in her speech on choice, in how in relates to culture. Nafisi said that often people misconstrue Western culture, and judge her for choosing to live in America, but she tells them that she loves American culture and that is her choice. Even so, she still tries to retain aspects of her Iranian culture. This hybrid of cultures that she has adopted is incredibly interesting- I think it shows that though Western and Middle Eastern cultures are incredibly different, they are not incompatible. We read an article by Samuel Huntington in several of my political science classes, called the Clash of Civilizations. In this article, Huntington discusses culture as a catalyst for conflict, specifically within the Middle East as it pertains to the West. I think that Azar Nafisi is absolutely indicative of the possible confluence of multiple cultures, and perhaps even the benefits of a multicultural world, both in the political world, and within individuals. The more integrated cultures are with one another, the less likely there will be conflict; by understanding the culture of others, it is easier to empathize, and easier to see them as equals, humans. I feel that cultural awareness and difference will not push us towards the brink of a clash of civilizations, but instead further integrate societies into one another in a positive way.