Representing the Unpresentable: Historical Images of National Reform from the Qajars to the Islamic Republic of Iran

Islamic culture in Iran attempted to keep the nation's motion picture industry free from foreign values and intervention. As a result it has developed a fascinating system of symbols, notions about gender, and other ideas unique to itself. Mottahedeh (Duke U.) examines vision and visibility in Iranian culture and analyzes how the Babi, an unpresentable and violently suppressed subgroup within Iranian Shi'ites, served and serve as a pivot in Iran's movement toward modernity and also as a representation of the other in Iranian society. She focuses on cinematic works, historical and literary texts to find the use of visual culture and the image of the Babi, and to discern the reasons why a despised group would be used to define modern Iran. The result is an indication of significant new scholarship in Iranian and gender studies. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)