Shahrnush Parsipur

A Novel of Modern Iran

Women Without Men

Fem kvinder mødes i en have uden for Teheran. Langt fra samfundet og familiens bånd finder de en ny start. Men hvad har en rig enke, en ung prostitueret, to gammeljomfruer og en skolelærer, der gerne vil være et træ, egentlig til fælles? I Kvinder uden mænd skildrer Shahrnush Parsipur fem kvinder i et samfund domineret af mænd – deres liv, deres drømme og deres håb – og fortæller undervejs en poetisk og magisk historie om kærlighed, undertrykkelse og frihed i 1950’ernes Iran. Udkommer i Gyldendals SKALA-serien for genopdagede mesterværker fra det 20. århundrede. “Parsipur er en modig, talentfuld kvinde og frem for alt en stor forfatter.” - Marjane Satrapi, forfatteren bag Persepolis

Kvinder uden mænd

En ung kvinde møder en dag en mand, som danser i regnen. De går sammen gennem Teheran og bliver interesserede i hinanden. Langsomt indleder de et forhold på trods af, at familien har andre forlovelsesplaner for hende. Hun fravælger familiens fornuftsvalg til fordel for den 20 år ældre mand, B, den eneste, der formår at få hende til at føle sig fri. "Frie oplevelser" af Shahrnush Parsipur er en fortælling om en generations drømme om frihed, og om hvordan deres omstændigheder og hverdagens tristhed spinder snærende bånd omkring dem. Romanen er oversat fra persisk af Nazila Kivi, der også har skrevet efterord.

Frie oplevelser

نساء بلا رجال

Shahrnūsh Pārsīʹpūr

Banned in Iran, this epic masterpiece of dissident Iranian woman writer finally arrives in the U.S.

Touba and the Meaning of Night

Shahrnūsh Pārsī{u2032}pūr

An examination of the mistreatment of women in modern Iran follows the stories of five women whose individual circumstances lead them to the same garden for solace and freedom

A Novella

An internationally acclaimed writer's harrowing tale of imprisonment in Iran, and her gripping story of getting out.

A Prison Memoir

Kissing the Sword

Als haar vader sterft, trouwt de zelfbewuste veertienjarige Touba een oudere man om de toekomst van haar familie veilig te stellen. Hoogst ongelukkig gaat ze vier jaar later in hongerstaking en dwingt zo haar echtgenoot tot een scheiding. Haar tweede huwelijk met een prins is wel liefdevol, maar als de monarchie onder vuur ligt en hij het land moet ontvluchten, blijft ze eenzaam en arm achter. Net als haar land ziet Touba zich steeds voor veranderingen gesteld, die ze met een intuïtieve zelfverzekerdheid tegemoet treedt. Touba en het belang van de nacht wordt beschouwd als een van de belangrijkste boeken uit de moderne Iraanse literatuur. De roman verscheen voor het eerst in 1987, werd onmiddellijk een bestseller, maar is tot op de dag van vandaag in Iran verboden vanwege de sociale problemen die de auteur in haar boek aan de kaak stelt, zoals seksuele taboes en de onderdrukking van de vrouw. In de persoon van Touba en haar zoektocht naar waarheid en identiteit, in een wereld waarin oude zekerheden en waarden betekenisloos zijn geworden, komt tachtig jaar moderne geschiedenis van Iran samen. Net als Het huis van de moskee van Kader Abdolah is Touba een klassieke roman over de worsteling tussen traditie en moderniteit, tussen onderdrukking en vrijheid.

Toeba en het belang van de nacht

Shahrnush Parsipur was an important writer and television producer in her native Iran until 1979 when the Islamic Republic began imprisoning its citizens. Kissing the Sword captures the surreal experience of serving time without being charged with a crime, and witnessing the systematic destruction of any and all opposition to fundamentalist power. It is a memoir filled with both horror and humor: nights blasted by the sounds of machine gun fire as hundreds of prisoners are summarily executed, and days spent debating prison officials on whether the Quran demands that women be covered. Parsipur, one of the great novelists of modern Iran, known for magic realism, tells a story here that is all too real. She mines her own painful memories to create an urgent call for one of the most basic human rights: freedom of expression.Born in Iran in 1946, Shahrnush Parsipur began her career as a fiction writer and producer at Iranian National Television and Radio. She was imprisoned for nearly five years by the Islamist government without being formally charged. Shortly after her release, she published Women Without Men and was arrested and jailed again, this time for her frank and defiant portrayal of women's sexuality. While still banned in Iran, the novel became an underground bestseller there, and has been translated into many languages around the world. She is also the author of Touba and the Meaning of Night, among many other books, and now lives in exile in Northern California.

An Iranian woman forges her own path through life in this “stylishly original contribution to modern feminist literature” (Publishers Weekly). After her father’s death, fourteen-year-old Touba takes her family’s financial security into her own hands by proposing to a fifty-two-year-old relative. But, intimidated by her outspoken nature, Touba’s husband soon divorces her. When she marries again, it is to a prince with whom she experiences tenderness and physical passion and bears four children—but their relationship sours when he proves unfaithful. Touba is granted a divorce, and as her unconventional life continues, she becomes the matriarch of an ever-changing household of family members and refugees . . . Hailed as “one of the unsurpassed masterpieces of modern Persian literature” (Iranian.com), Touba and the Meaning of Night explores the ongoing tensions between rationalism and mysticism, tradition and modernity, male dominance and female will—all from a distinctly Iranian viewpoint. Defying both Western stereotypes of Iranian women and expectations of literary form, this beautiful novel reflects the unique voice of its author as well as an important tradition in Persian women’s writing. “Parsipur’s novel carries the reader on a mystical and emotional odyssey spanning eight decades of Iranian cultural, political, and religious history . . . rewarding and enlightening.” —Booklist “A sweeping chronicle of modern Iranian history and a study of the plight of twentieth-century Iranian women . . . [displaying] deft utilization of magic realism and Persian myths . . . rich and well-crafted.” —Library Journal

Shahrnush Parsipur

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