Gaze, objectification, and identity formation in life writings of Iranian women in diaspora

Abstract

The condition of permanent visibility that imposes on women the passive role of spectacle is often considered to be the state of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Most scholarly works on the status of women in contemporary Iran stereotypically perceive them as unresisting objects of institutional and voyeuristic gazes, and thus overlook the nuances of women’s participation within the prevailing dynamics of looking. This article explores the Iranian American writer Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003) to shed light on women’s active engagement in challenging and dismantling the hierarchies of the gaze that primarily seek to objectify women’s body, identity, and subjectivity. Drawing on Jacque Lacan’s theory of the gaze, which emphasizes the link between the processes of observation and identity formation, the research demonstrates that despite being subjected to the objectifying gaze of the state and the voyeuristic scrutiny of the patriarchy, female characters ultimately succeed in temporarily reclaiming their position within the scopic field. It is argued that by assuming the role of spectators, the female characters reassert their agency and reconstruct a new sense of identity for themselves.

Keywords:

• Gaze
• women
• Iran
• identity
• memoir
• Jacque Lacan
• Azar Nafisi

Reviewing Editing:

• Lincoln Geraghty
• University of Portsmouth
• United Kingdom

SUBJECTS:

• Literature
• Literature by Geographic Area
• Women’s Literature

Introduction

The protest held by Iranian rights activists on 12 July 2022, coinciding with the Islamic Republic’s National Day of Hijab and Chastity, has reignited global interest in women’s visibility, invisibility, and daily experiences of the male gaze in contemporary Iran. Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, women in Iran have been compelled to adhere to a strict code of modesty governing ‘dress, behavior, eye contact, and relations with members of the opposite sex’, all in an effort to shield themselves from the male gaze (Naficy, 1991, p. 32). The tacit assumption underlying such Islamic hermeneutics is often said to be the idea that man is the bearer of a determining gaze and woman, who is ‘simultaneously looked at and displayed’ (Mulvey, 1975, p. 11), is the passive icon and a signifier for the male other. Such a condition of permanent visibility that imposes on women the passive role of spectacle appears to depict the state of women in the Islamic Republic. Defined in terms of their traditional role as a visual and erotic object of fantasy for the male other, woman’s identity and subjectivity are affected by sexual imbalance that is promoted by a patriarchal system in which pleasure in looking, to borrow Mulvey’s terms, ‘has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (1989, p. 19). Over the past forty years, numerous studies have suggested that women in Iran exist only to be looked at, are demanded to practice modesty of vision, and are discouraged from returning the gaze of the male other (Saeidi, 2022; Yaghoobi, 2021; Zahedi, 2007). Within this context, representations of women in Iranian literature have often been interpreted as eye-witness accounts that underline the marginal and underprivileged position of women within the dynamics of visual perception (Pourya Asl, 2019; Naghibi, 2017). These narratives—whether fictional, biographical, or autobiographical—provide poignant insights into the challenges faced by women in Iran as they navigate a society where their visibility is controlled, and their agency curtailed.

In this study, we argue that even though looking relations in contemporary Iran are socially and ideologically determined at the disadvantage of women, men’s mastery of the gaze is often disrupted, challenged, and overturned by women’s active exercise of the gaze. To pursue this argument, we explore the Iranian American writer Azar Nafisi’s critically acclaimed life writing, Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003) to examine the various ways in which looking hierarchies are shown to be dismantled by female characters. The memoir chronicles the life of Azar Nafisi, a Professor of English, and seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics away from the controlling gaze of authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The story is relevant as it documents women’s daily encounter with institutional and voyeuristic gazes that position them as the object of social discipline and sexual fantasy. The prevailing gazes of the patriarchy and of the male voyeur objectify, regulate, and normalize women’s identity and self-image, promoting a relationality that establishes the female subject as the inferior sex. As conceptual terms, the institutional gaze and the voyeuristic look are instrumental in engendering and subordinating individuals within societies. According to Kaplan, ‘looking relations are determined by history, tradition, power hierarchies, politics, economics … the possibilities for looking are carefully controlled … looking is power’ (1997, p. 4). On one level, Nafisi shows the prevalence of the objectifying gazes that subordinate women like her, stripping them off their subjectivity. On another level, her life story demonstrates that the act of looking is not a one directional process and that a gaze can be returned and challenged by adopting the position of onlooker. Much of the existing body of criticism on Nafisi’s life narrative have overlooked this aspect of the story and have subsequently reproached the memoir for its monolithic portrayal of Iranian women as passive objects of annihilating gazes.

Jacques Lacan offers a subtle and sophisticated framework in examining the notion of the gaze. A Lacanian interpretation of Reading Lolita in Tehran revisits a well-grounded correlation between the workings of gaze and the construction of identity, the former being instrumental in both shaping and understanding the latter. According to Lacan (1981), there is a dominating gaze that even though has no physical front, its appearance allows for the manifestation of anxiety and castration in the subject as a consequence of being looked at. Once the (female) subject realises she is exposed to this appropriating gaze, the drive will exhibit itself in the scopic order. The drive signifies that the subject is seen and that there is a gaze that operates outside of her field of vision (Feldstein et al., 1995). In Nafisi’s memoir, the State is situated as the holder of the disciplinary gaze, exerting the looking dominance over the female subjects in the process of reinforcing mandatory veiling. The mechanics of the gaze, in return, expose the autobiographical narrator’s struggle for subjectivity as she realises her object of desire, or the objet petit a, manifests itself within the scopic domain. From this perspective, Lacan’s notion of the mirror stage is helpful in teasing out the nuances of women’s agency as it relates closely to how they define their selfhood. The alienating effect that the mirror usually ignites onto its reflection enhances the female narrator’s conflict in perceiving herself, hence more or less reinforcing the subject to reclaim her identity.

A Lacanian framework is relevant as it offers individuals the possibility of reclaiming their subjectivity through expressing their anxiety. This is particularly significant in patriarchal societies like Iran where the only acceptable subjectivity within the general social order is believed to be that of the men. The workings of the gaze in Nafisi’s memoir operate predominantly among the female characters who are often located at the receiving end of the looking relations. The dynamism of looking relations is useful in acknowledging that the female characters do not want to be the passive receivers of the gaze, but constantly seek to question their subjugated individual agency. In return, these episodes will unravel women’s way of reclaiming their identity through the exposure of drive and the objet petit a that helps in one’s understanding of the selfhood development. In what follows, we will examine the recent issue on objectification of Iranian women through hierarchies of the gaze as well as the existing discussion on looking relations within the discourse of Iranian literature. Afterwards, we aim to detail the notion of the gaze from a Lacanian viewpoint by relating it to the concept of the mirror stage. Finally, we will explore Nafisi’s narrative in light of the looking relations that influenced the process of character development in the novel.

The contextual and literary background

Within the critical discourses on contemporary Iranian literary writings, the image of women as submissive and weak remains a matter of scholarly controversy. This popular stereotype of Iranian women is perpetuated by the Western perspective that Muslim women wearing a veil are victims of patriarchal oppression and need to be liberated from brown men’s annihilating objectification (Hawley, 2021; Mansoor, 2020; Papanek, 2019). This rigid and controversial understanding is generated from a position that locates secular Western women at the centre, thus regarding women with a veil as a marker of social, cultural, political, and religious identity (Asl, 2022; Baldi, 2021; Tavakoli-Targhi, 2019). To foster a more nuanced and balanced understanding of Iranian women’s autonomy in literature, it is important to shift away from the Western-centric narrative that tends to minimize individual narrative.

In this context, studies on Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran unanimously agree that her female characters are depicted as passive and unresisting objects of patriarchal gaze, and their ‘helplessness’ incites a call to arms that becomes the primal scene of the narrative. This general understanding of the memoir positions Nafisi as an agent for Western propaganda against the Islamic Republic. For instance, Grogan (2014) believes that the book articulates a history of female subjugation and showcases to Western readers the patriarchal atrocities that Muslim women experience on a daily basis (p. 53). Grogan echoes an Iranian-based scholar Mohammed Marandi (2008) who censured the book for promoting the Orientalist notion that women in Iran are hapless victims of a misogynistic Islamic tradition. Likewise, Dabashi (2006) claims that the book conforms to the common stereotypes regarding Muslim women and thereby calls for help from ‘white men to save brown women from brown men’ (para 8). Nafisi’s memoir has thus been considered as an apparatus that lends itself to reinforcing Western ideology and propaganda (DePaul, 2008; Donadey & Ahmed-Ghosh, 2008; Rowe, 2007). In this regard, Clemens (2014) contends that the book is limited with ‘viable forms of resistance available to women’, while pointing to the context of literary norms specific to memoir conventions rather than the book in general (p. 586). She maintains that Nafisi’s ‘personal struggle for selfhood’ in the book has been perceived as the portrayal of women as passive recipients of an assertive gaze (p. 585), rather than individuals in possession of it.

Even though in recent years Western literature has shown a breakthrough in portraying women as the holder of the gaze in looking hierarchies, there are scarcely any such depictions within the contemporary Iranian literary scene (Hadi & Asl, 2022; Pourya Asl, 2022). In fact, scholarship on the gaze as an objectifying tool in the Iranian context shows woman only as an unresisting subject. Karami’s (2019) essay stands out here as the only study that addressed the gaze in relation to female subjectivity. His reading of Houshang Golshiri’s Prince Ehtejab, which is a notable modern Persian fiction, explores a male-gaze-centred-narrative that subjugates women’s voices. Karami demonstrates that even the representation of women’s suffering is shown from a male perspective (p. 382), which highlights the disintegrating agency of women that foregrounds them as unresisting subjects of the gaze. However, a Lacanian theorization of the gaze reveals that looking is not always one directional, and it is possible for the observed (women) to reflect the gaze and reclaim the position of the observer. By becoming the looking subjects, women can also reassert their agency and subjectivity. Through a Lacanian framework, this study seeks to address the possibility of women resisting the dominant gaze and thereby counter the negative stereotype of Iranian women as passive and helpless figures. To better understand the multi-directional nature of looking relations, in what follows, the study explores the Lacanian notion of gaze in relation to the redevelopment of agency.

The gaze: a Lacanian perspective

A Lacanian perspective on the analytical concept of the gaze foregrounds a universal condition for everyone without limiting gazing and being gazed upon to particular fixed roles. The notion of power in looking, then, derives from an internal split of the gaze: where there is an actual look along with another large, uncanny gaze that is difficult to perceive (Yan et al., 2017, p. 579). This split between the actual and uncanny gaze is unsettling, demanding, and offers possibilities to identify meanings and subjectivities (Lacan, 1977). Accordingly, it is a significant part of the gaze theory to identify female agency at a conscious level. The following sketch on the workings of this intriguing lens is thus important in understanding how Lacanian gaze allows for the prescription of women’s subjectivities in a male dominated society.

From a Lacanian perspective, the notion of gaze involves an internal conflict that proposes a likelihood of agency. In other words, when we notice an observer staring at us, we become aware of how the gaze affects us, particularly in the revelation of the drive (Lacan, 1981). Once we return the gaze of the observer, ‘the split between the eye and the gaze’ takes place and thus disrupts the observer’s mastery in the act of looking (Kazemi, 2018, p. 40). Furthermore, when we direct our gaze back at the observer, it brings forward a sense of ‘self-scrutiny’ and sheds light on the intricate aspects of one’s mind (Yan et al., 2017, p. 580). According to Ragland (1995):

At the level of the real where Lacan shows the voice and the gaze as driving language … each person’s demand bears the particular coat of arms of his or her subjectivity and symptoms. And the real of impasses (contradictions, suffering, and joy) are also specific to that person’s jouissance. (p. 191)

This implies that the notion of gaze extends beyond mere observation; it also prompts self-awareness by making one conscious of their desires and the obstacles that hinder their progression. Since Lacanian gaze ‘focuses on what disrupts our mastery when we look’ (McGowan, 2015, p. 61), an individual can become the assertive eye when the desires are manifested; because the ‘drive is a matter of mastery and control, and establishes how one is an active partner in whatever is done to one’ (Jaanus, 1995, p. 129). In essence, Lacan’s gaze theory centres on the perspective of the object-gaze, specifically the person being observed, exploring how they unravel the complexities of their own psyche when reciprocating the gaze.

Lacan provides a unique perspective on the gaze, considering it as a conceptual term distinct from the physical act of seeing. He explains that the eye viewing an object belongs to the subject, while the gaze originates from the object itself. When we look at an object, it simultaneously gazes back at us from a point that remains unseen (Žižek, 1993, p. 109). The awareness of the gaze staring at us has a simultaneous potential to be pleasurable and disconcerting at once. As Lacan (1981) puts it, ‘when it begins to provoke [our gaze], the feeling of strangeness begins too’ (p. 75). This realization creates an uncanny feeling similar to castration anxiety as it brings our lack into consciousness, revealing a delicate boundary between the symbolic order and the Real (Felluga, 2015, p. 110). Despite its unsettling nature, this realization is crucial. It signifies a confrontation with one’s own incompleteness, contributing to drive satisfaction by necessitating a ‘reduction from a whole object to a part-object’ (Jaanus, 1995, p. 129). Within the memoir’s context, the government’s scrutiny of the female characters not only instils self-consciousness, causing anxiety, but also aids in their exploration of meanings and subjectivities.

Another conceptual term that is related to the discussion of the gaze is the objet petit a. Objet petit a is a Lacanian version of Sigmund Freud’s ‘object-choice’, a lost object. In the present study, objet petit a is a relevant concept with the gaze because as the split between the physical eye and the phantasmic gaze brings in internal anxiety, it also opens the possibility for subjectivities via the recognition of need/desired object. That is how the drive is detected as the subject returns the gaze. It is important to note that the drive does not seek objet petit a in order to obtain it. Instead, it lingers around the idea of object desire. As Felluga (2015) puts it:

To come too close to our object of desire threatens to uncover the lack that is, in fact, necessary for our desire to persist, so that, ultimately, desire is most interested not in fully attaining the object of desire but in keeping our distance, thus allowing desire to persist. (p. 199)

An illustration of the objet petit a can be seen through Nafisi and her female students, as they share the same desire: to feel at home in their motherland. This desire proves to be unattainable in the analysis as the government’s surveillance complicates the female characters’ ability to establish a sense of belonging in their homeland. The objet petit a here is ‘the presence of a hollow, a void, which can be occupied … by any object, and whose agency we know only in the form of the lost object, the petit a’ (Lacan, 1981, p. 180). Thus, Lacan’s gaze is marked by the realization of a lost object, signifying the understanding that the desires are linked to a sense of inadequacy, that is ‘the materiality of the Real staring back at us’ (Felluga, 2011, para. 3). In other words, it is the transition from a holistic subject to a fragmented one.

As the drive only lingers around the object desire instead of fulfilling it, this brings forth the lack as a response to unattainable object. Lack as a conceptual term is the lost object made visible upon the subject’s realisation of his objet petit a. It is a marker that defines someone as a unitary subject because expressing one’s lack is equivalent to recognizing the underlying conflict within oneself. It is interesting to note that recognition of oneself can only be done through others. This is because the subject has no way of gaining self-consciousness by herself for the truth [the unconscious] can only be realised through the others (Lacan, 1995, p. 23). Nafisi hinted at this lack at the end of the memoir when she decided to leave Iran, ultimately losing a place to return.

Lacan’s mirror stage is another concept that is closely related to the gaze. The mirror stage often refers to the phenomena of the subject’s inability to identify with their image in the mirror. This is because the gaze produces an alienation effect towards oneself, hence the reason the subject is unable to grasp her reflection. As Lacan asserts: ‘We can see something of the phenomenon of the double when we gaze in the mirror but don’t recognize ourselves’ (1995, p. 144). When the subject looks into the mirror, she becomes the owner of the gaze, and yet, as the object of the gaze is her reflection, she is ultimately lost due to the uncanny feeling of being stared at (Hadi & Asl, 2021, p. 66). Furthermore, in a psychoanalytic sense, the gaze in the mirror can appear as a magnified series of multiplying gazes which results in a delusion of being observed (Feldstein et al., 1995, p. 145). As a result, a case of hysterical blindness experienced by the subject can be deduced as a neurotic impact of the mechanics of the gaze. In what follows, the study will employ Lacan’s theories on the characters of Nafisi, Manna, Mahshid, Yassi, Azin, Mitra, Sanaz, and Nassrin.

Results and discussion

The autobiographical narrator and the looking relations

The narrative of Reading Lolita in Tehran revolves around a hierarchical mode of observation that significantly influences the (re-)formation of the female characters’ identity and subjectivity in contemporary Iran. In the book, the established hierarchy of the gaze is persistently questioned and dismantled by defiant female characters aiming to assume an active role in looking relations and ascend the hierarchy. A prominent illustration of this transformation is seen in the narrator, Nafisi, who evolves from a passive recipient of the appropriating gaze to an assertive observer with active eyes. The early chapters subtly hint at government surveillance, associating it with light upon Nafisi’s return to her homeland: ‘For seventeen years I dreamed of those lights, so beckoning and seductive. I dreamed of being submerged in them and of never having to leave again’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 81). Lacan’s psychoanalysis consistently links the gaze to light, as indicated by his statement: ‘that which is gaze is always a play of light’ (Lacan, 1981, p. 96). Consequently, the presence of light in Nafisi’s situation signifies her as an object under government surveillance, aligning with Lacan’s gaze theory. In reference to this, Quinet (1995) notes that Lacan suggests ‘a spot of light’ can symbolize the object, the source of desire, creating a presence that invokes a sense of being observed (p. 144). Following her arrival at Tehran airport, Nafisi observes ‘the unsmiling portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini and his anointed successor, Ayatollah Montazeri, that covered the walls’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 82). The conjunction of light and portraits of top government figures at the airport implies constant government scrutiny. Consequently, Nafisi perceives the anxiety among her mother and friends, who had come to the airport to welcome her, recognizing the impact of being under government surveillance.

As the narrative unfolds, the growing anxiety of being scrutinized becomes increasingly apparent, with the pervasive and objectifying gaze unsettling the autobiographical narrator and sparking inner turmoil. This is vividly depicted when Nafisi begins having nightmares and wakes up screaming at night, gripped by the fear that she ‘would never again be able to leave the country’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 100). Nafisi’s increasing desperation can be understood through Lacan’s gaze theory, wherein the feeling of strangeness and the uncanny arises from her awareness that she is under observation. Furthermore, her anxiety persists as the government, aiming to enforce the wearing of the veil by Iranian women, threatens to suspend classes and close the university where she teaches (p. 146). The enforcement of compulsory veiling signifies an authoritative institutional and voyeuristic gaze, relegating female subjects to a marginalized position. This is depicted in the memoir when Nafisi notes: ‘These girls, my girls, had both a real history and a fabricated one. Although they came from very different backgrounds, the regime that ruled them had tried to make their personal identities and histories irrelevant’ (p. 28). Additionally, the memoir delves into the resentment Nafisi’s grandmother harbours towards the veil. Initially a symbol of her connection with God, it has now transformed into a tool of political expression, reducing the women who wear it to mere ‘signs and symbols’ under the watchful gaze of the government (p. 103). As a result, Nafisi grapples with the identity imposed by the overbearing gaze, as she not only identifies as a Muslim woman but also with other aspects of herself that have been denied—such as being an educator and a writer (p. 167). Nafisi portrays this internal conflict when she shares in the memoir, ‘It was not that piece of cloth that I rejected, it was the transformation being imposed upon me that made me look in the mirror and hate the stranger I had become’ (p. 165).

As Nafisi senses the scrutinizing gaze compelled by imposed restrictions, she becomes acutely aware of the objectifying, regulating, and normalizing lens of the government that shapes her existence. This gaze strips her of agency, leaving her immobilized, paralyzed, and progressively estranged from the world (pp. 107, 150, 165). The memoir vividly illustrates this entrapment when she recounts her failed attempt to escape scrutiny by leaving the country: ‘I was turned down at the airport, and once, I was even escorted back to the headquarters of the Revolutionary Court’ (p. 107). Consequently, this gaze not only confines her physically but also renders her incapable, as evidenced by her struggle to perform even the simplest acts like ‘going to the passport office and asking for a passport’ (p. 107). The overwhelming sense of impotence and paralysis encapsulates the profound impact of societal scrutiny. At the same time, Nafisi starts feeling less important in her society, especially when she loses her teaching job because she doesn’t agree with the government’s rules (p. 167). This messes up her daily routine and makes her identity less stable since she cannot call herself a teacher and a writer anymore (p. 167). Drawing upon Lacanian psychoanalysis, the fracture in her routine after noticing the gaze takes on a profound significance, symbolizing ‘the insistence of the real, or the frightening meeting with the head of the Medusa’ (Berressem, 1995, p. 180). In this manifestation, the fracture not only immobilizes but also annihilates Nafisi’s sense of selfhood, adding to the sense of unfamiliarity within her society when she becomes estranged from her surroundings following the loss of her job.

Feeling the weight of the scrutinizing gaze, Nafisi undergoes a growing sense of estrangement from her own identity. This is especially illustrated in the memoir when she creates a survival game involving the withdrawal of her body parts into a wide black robe, gradually envisioning her physical body to dissipates into the void and leaving behind only a piece of cloth shaping her body guided by an imperceptible force (Nafisi, 2003, pp. 167-168). This instance echoes the concept of Lacan’s gaze where one faces a ‘psychic rupture’ that points out the location from which the gaze is directed towards them (Ragland, 1995, p. 168). According to Ragland (1995), these intangible cuts signify primary separations from maternal objects (p. 200). Additionally, as the illusion of ‘self-wholeness’ shatters, she finds herself unable to confront her reflection in the mirror, a portrayal evident in the early pages of the memoir, depicting the narrator’s current state in the narrative’s timeline. In the beginning of the memoir, Nafisi shares how ‘[i]t is strange to look into a mirror and see not yourself but a view so distant from you’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 17). This suggests Nafisi’s inability to assume the role of an onlooker, preventing her from seeing her own reflection. When examining this occurrence through the lens of Lacanian psychoanalysis, the mirror stage typically involves the person looking at their reflection and feeling disconnected from the mirrored image. This happens because there is an uncanny sensation of being observed even when there is nothing actually present (Lacan, 1995, p. 144). Nafisi’s inability to perceive her own reflection reinforces the suggestion that she experiences a sense of estrangement from herself. When she takes on the role of the observer, the mirror fails to provide any meaningful reflection.

Despite the seemingly marginal position assigned to Nafisi, the multi-directional function of Lacanian gaze enables her to confront the role of the dominant observer. While Nafisi perceives herself as the subject of the authority’s gaze, her active engagement in looking challenges their mastery of the gaze through the concepts of objet petit a and drive. The object-desire and drive emerge once the imaginary body is fractured, indicating the point from which the gaze is directed towards and becoming ‘the psychic point in the scopic function where the split between the gaze and vision is found’ (Ragland, 1995, p. 200). The concept of objet petit a serves as a focal point for desire, representing an elusive object that the drive relentlessly seeks to satisfy, despite the inherent impossibility of achieving complete gratification. In her memoir, Nafisi candidly acknowledges moments of self-loss (Nafisi, 2003, p. 170), yet this acknowledgment does not deter her relentless pursuit of reconstructing the fragments of herself that have been lost. Initially, Nafisi rekindles her identity as an author by contributing articles to a literary magazine, specifically on modern Persian fiction. However, the drive remains unsatisfied as she seldom experiences a sense of fulfilment, yearning for the spontaneity and enthusiasm inherent in the classroom setting (p. 183). Subsequently, Nafisi seizes a teaching opportunity at a university, only to be frustrated by the constraints imposed by the institutional, male gaze. This scrutiny manifests through Mrs. Rezvan, who, having heard ‘interesting reports’ about Nafisi’s classes (p. 200), insinuates a constant surveillance of Nafisi’s presence. To evade this intrusive gaze, Nafisi establishes a private class, where she can freely engage in discussions on forbidden Western classics with a select group of students. While this enclave momentarily allows her to ‘defy the repressive reality outside the room’ (p. 317), it fails to satisfy the drive, leaving her unfulfilled. As Nafisi becomes increasingly attached to her class and students, she paradoxically experiences detachment from Iran (p. 317).

Ultimately, Nafisi discovers the closest object of desire to her drive—an intense yearning for home, evident in her poignant reflection: ‘my yearning was tied to the certainty that home was mine for the having, that I could go back anytime I wished. It was not until I had reached home that I realized the true meaning of exile’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 145). The acknowledgment of her sense of lack becomes palpable when she discloses feeling like an outsider in her own homeland (p. 246). Nafisi’s decision to depart the country emerges as both plausible and imperative for the reclamation of her selfhood. In this way, Nafisi actively challenges the dominance of the gaze by continuously trying to satisfy her drives. The prevailing gaze is implied to have weakened at the end of the story when she recalls the light withdrawing from the mountains in the mirror (p. 339), since in Lacanian terms, light often intertwines with the gaze. In conclusion, Nafisi effectively disrupts the gaze’s dominance through her relentless pursuit of satisfying her drives, ultimately (re)discovering her subjectivity.

Binaries between gaze, gender, and power: the female narrator

In the narrative, instances of binaries between gaze, gender, and power come to the forefront. The government’s control over the gaze significantly impacts women, as illustrated in the memoir. In the first section titled ‘Lolita’, Nafisi exposes the irony of film censorship in Iran until 1994, revealing, ‘Our world under the mullahs’ rule was shaped by the colorless lenses of the blind censor’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 25). This censorship goes beyond mere regulation, influencing the visual content consumed by society. Nafisi’s private class becomes a poignant attempt to escape the stifling gaze of the blind censor, underscoring the profound impact of the power to control perception (p. 25). Moreover, the government’s imposition of stringent dress codes for women signifies a pervasive societal gaze dictating how women should present themselves (p. 167). These restrictions, enforced through fines, lashings, and jail terms, highlight the extent of governmental control (p. 167). This control contributes significantly to a pervasive sense of powerlessness and vulnerability among women, exemplified vividly by Nafisi’s experience of feeling adrift amidst the challenges posed by the ‘Iran-Iraq war and the loss of her teaching job’ (p. 167).

Nafisi’s journey under the watchful eyes of authority takes a significant turn in a crucial moment from the memoir. While meeting her acquaintance, whom she warmly calls ‘my magician’, at a bustling coffee shop, a sudden raid disrupts their rendezvous. In this critical moment, the waiter discreetly suggests a course of action, proposing that ‘if we are not related, my magician should move to another table, and I can explain, were I asked what I am doing there, that I am waiting for my order from the pastry shop’ (Nafisi, 2003, pp. 312-313). Despite their innocence, Nafisi staunchly refuses to comply, asserting that they have done nothing wrong. However, her magician disagrees, recognizing the societal gaze that often imposes expectations and judgments on interactions between men and women in public spaces. This disagreement between Nafisi and her magician unveils intricate power dynamics, emphasizing the pervasive control of societal norms over personal choices. Nafisi’s response, fuelled by anger, and her subsequent actions reveal a deep-seated frustration with the shackles of societal restrictions. This pivotal incident influences her mindset, reinforcing a profound sense of rebellion against imposed norms as she navigates the complexities of authority and personal autonomy.

The objet petit a and the drive: the female characters

Besides Nafisi, other female characters that struggle with the male other, or the objectifying gazes that jeopardize women’s selfhood, are Manna, Mahshid, Yassi, Mitra, Nassrin, Azin, and Sanaz. In the first section of the memoir, ‘Lolita’, Nafisi details how her seven students ‘have no clear image of themselves’ from being marginalized in the looking relations (Nafisi, 2003, p. 38). The students’ diverse self-images, from a naked girl to seeing oneself as a fog or a figment (pp. 75-76), reflect the internalization of societal expectations and the struggle against prescribed gender norms. In return, it shows how the prevailing, authoritative gaze has erased the characters’ identity when the students ‘can only see and shape themselves through other people’s eyes—ironically, the very people they despise’ (p. 38). Regardless of their initial positions in the looking relationship, the gaze can be returned through the characters’ active persuasion of the unconcealed objet petit a and drive. Therefore, six out of seven characters are depicted in the memoir as capable of successfully rebuilding their individual identity.

Manna stands out as a character actively pursuing her selfhood while remaining within her home country. Throughout the narrative, Manna appears immobilized, trapped as an object of the onlooker’s gaze, akin to the paralyzing effect of meeting Medusa’s gaze. According to Nafisi’s account, Manna perceives her resistance to the scrutiny of others as futile, as evidenced by the statement: ‘Manna obstinately refused to do anything about her situation’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 288). Manna’s initial indifference to change can be explained through gaze theory, depicting an intricate interplay of perceptions wherein the Other’s gaze functions as a formidable force, ultimately subduing her psyche and, in effect, ‘petrifying her into psychic disorder’ (Alban, 2017, p. 16). As a consequence, it renders Manna paralyzed as she is incapable of imagining herself leaving the country, on top of being financially indebted to her family (Nafisi, 2003, p. 288). Nevertheless, she becomes encouraged to change when she sees Nafisi’s attempt at resisting the objectifying gaze by leaving Iran. Lacan (1977) posits that the individual ego is not self-produced but rather shaped by external influences, particularly through interactions with others as the ego is ‘objectified in the dialectic of identification with the other’ (p. 2). Thus, Nafisi’s declaration of her intention to leave Iran serves as a catalyst for Manna’s reaction. In response, Manna passionately exclaims, ‘I know if I had half a chance, I would too. I would leave everything’ (Nafisi, 2003, p. 325). This emotional outburst underscores the profound impact of external influences, such as Nafisi’s decision, on Manna’s perspective and desire for change. Furthermore, according to Philippe Julien’s (1994) interpretation of Lacan’s ‘Return to Freud’, interpersonal interactions involve others functioning as mirrors, facilitating the acquisition of self-understanding regarding our personalities and allowing us to adopt qualities from those in our vicinity (Julien & Simiu, 1994, p. 30). Therefore, in the following chapters, Manna defiantly resists the authoritative onlooker by actively resisting its imposition through daily actions such as writing poetry, reading, and discussing Western classics, wearing cosmetics, choosing vibrant scarves and shorter robes, and navigating public streets accompanied by men other than her family members (pp. 341–342). In doing so, she subverts the prevailing gaze, negotiating her course of actions on a day-to-day basis.

Another character who successfully resist the objectification of the gaze in their home country is Mahshid. In the beginning of the story, Mahshid, who comes from a pious Muslim background, may appear to be static in the field of visibility. Her religious upbringing pushes Mahshid to be neglected and ignored as she advocates for hijab but opposes the mandatory veiling law (Nafisi, 2003, p. 13). However, Mahshid is not necessarily immobilized in the looking relations as she accepts her current self, one with an impaired kidney from a traumatic experience in prison. In Lacanian psychoanalysis, one becomes constitutive as a subject once they experienced lack or loss, hence Mahshid’s acceptance of the lost kidney implies that she embraces her new body. For that reason, she does not struggle as much in the real world compared to other characters because ‘everyday life does not have fewer horrors than prison’ (p. 13). In addition, Mahshid is assertive in her pursuits of objet petit a and the drive, as Nafisi confirms in the memoir when she says ‘(Mahshid) was more confident than the rest about what she wanted’ (p. 287). To illustrate this, we can see how Mahshid is determined to get a job promotion and career stability, both of which reflects her strong attitude to make something out of her country (p. 270). In class, she is vocal about her fear and anger for the authority which implies an active participation in looking by putting the regime under her scrutiny (p. 327-328). At the end of the story, Mahshid secures a job tenancy and becomes a senior editor that publishes her own books (p. 342), while sketching an active effort in reclaiming her selfhood.

While Manna and Mahshid can follow their objet petit a and drive in their homeland, other characters like Yassi have to leave the country in order to fulfil their desires. In Yassi’s case, she is particularly vocal on her object of desire, which is to go to America like what her uncles did (Nafisi, 2003, p. 32). Yassi has always been at the receiving end of the looking gaze from her family, who never let her out of sight and denied her a private corner to think, to feel, to dream, and to write (p. 32). For that reason, she becomes envious of her uncle who possesses an inalienable right to leave the scrutiny of the family (p. 285). To pursue this objet petit a, Yassi sees education as a vehicle in the satisfaction of her desire and this is evident in her description of the university’s gate as ‘a magical entrance into the forbidden world of all the ordinary things she had been denied in life’ (p. 29). Despite that, the university failed to fulfil her drive due to its ‘shabby morality and ideological limitations’, and Yassi is washed with anxiety and regret that causes her long hours of disabling migraine headaches from her separation with her family (p. 31). As Yassi finds herself to be under the institutional gaze, she becomes indecisive and afraid of leaving Iran to pursue her dream (pp. 327, 270). Nevertheless, Yassi gradually becomes certain that she must go to America, ‘to be physically where her uncles were and to get a taste of the tantalizing fruit that had always dangled over the lives of her mother and aunts, beckoning and just out of reach’ (p. 285). Yassi realizes that while it is impossible to leave her home country in the same manner as her uncles, she can pursue her study abroad and by doing so, circling closer to her objet petit a. Finally, we can see Yassi leaving the country for her graduate studies at Texas (p. 342), simultaneously resisting and challenging the overbearing male other gaze.

Unlike Yassi, who expresses her intention to leave the country from the outset of the narrative, Mitra only contemplates the idea after undergoing a change in her perception of identity during her time abroad. Before that, Mitra’s way of withstanding the other’s gaze is to participate in Nafisi’s private class. She expressed how reality is akin to living in a dark, dank cell and that attending the class gives her a means to escape reality (Nafisi, 2003, p. 57). Despite that, Mitra’s drive is unsatisfied, and she continues to search for a desire, one she finds in the streets of Damascus where she discovers how she appears to be unrestrained and free from the prevailing gazes (p. 326). At the same time, the realization makes her anxious due to her mother-in-law’s opposition to them leaving the country which causes her husband to waver while Mitra is constantly haunted by the idea of staying any longer within the field of gaze with the repressive, male other (pp. 335, 326). Mitra becomes plagued with fear and her nights are marred with nightmares of this growing anxiety (p. 335). Although the narrator does not go into detail about Mitra in the latter part of the memoir, we know that she left for Canada by the end of the story (p. 342). Therefore, Mitra’s active involvement in satisfying her objet petit a shows a determination to pursue the version of herself that subverts the objectifying, looking gaze that would otherwise restrain her individuality.

Besides, another character that grapples with a fragmented sense of self due to multiple scrutinizing gazes is Nassrin. Growing up, Nassrin has constantly searched for her individual quality between a traditional and modern upbringing (Nafisi, 2003, p. 53). Nassrin believes that people should not lie, and when she breaks this regulation, it forces Nassrin to put herself under the scrutiny of her vision. As a consequence, an unbearable fracture forms in her self-perception which Lacan equates to an encounter with the terrifying head of the Medusa that immobilizes the subject (Berressem, 1995, p. 180). This is illustrated in the memoir when Nassrin grows static and more detached to her reality (Nafisi, 2003, p. 217). In addition, the institutional gaze that enforced its demand on the people increases the split within herself, as portrayed in the story when she says: ‘The fact is I don’t know what I want, and I don’t know if I am doing the right thing. I’ve always been told what is right-and suddenly I don’t know anymore. I know what I don’t want, but I don’t know what I want’ (p. 298). As the memoir progress, Nassrin continues to judge and scrutinize herself when she deceived her father about attending Nafisi’s secret class and having a boyfriend: ‘[Nassrin] lived in so many parallel worlds: the so-called real world of her family, work and society; the secret world of our class and her young man; and the world she had created out of her lies’ (p. 297). At the height of the scopic tension, Nassrin becomes frustrated at the multitude gaze. In particular, her boyfriend’s way of looking as if Nassrin is his object, ‘his Simone de Beauvoir minus the sex part’, irritates and fuels her to resist the objectifying gaze by breaking the relationships with both her boyfriend and her father. She is determined to search for her own identity when she says, ‘I want to know, to know who this Nassrin is’ (p. 323). Nassrin leaves the country earlier than all other characters, and by the end of the memoir we are informed of her arrival in England (p. 342). In this way, Nassrin manages to destabilize her looking relations with multiple onlookers through a decisive effort of seeking herself outside Iran.

Azin is the final character in the memoir who successfully rebuilds her individual identity in the visible world. In the final section of the story, we encounter Azin who suffers from the cruelty of her husband’s objectifying gaze, where she endures being physically beaten and mentally abused (Nafisi, 2003, p. 272). At one point in the memoir, Azin tries to take her mind off the turbulent relationship by colouring her nails red and hiding it from the public’s gaze with dark gloves so that she could protect a small part of her individuality (p. 271). However, as her conflict escalates, it shatters her calm demeanour, and she starts breaking down in Nafisi’s class. Azin’s inability to break off the marriage symbolizes a conflict to reclaim the assertive eyes, and this is illustrated in her speech when she says, ‘Only if I take my own life can I act without my husband’s permission’ (p. 286). It is revealed that her objet petit a is the custody of her beloved daughter, and when she lost the custody, it becomes a lack that aids in her reclamation of power within an imbalanced male other gaze. Azin ultimately decides to divorce her husband (p. 342). By restoring the power imbalance within the looking relation, and accepting the loss of her daughter, it helps Azin to restart a new life where she remarries a man from California and enrolling in class in her new place outside Iran (p. 342).

However, Sanaz is the sole character who experiences the gaze of the male other and faces the repercussions of a passive viewing dynamic. A few lines into the story, we are confronted with Sanaz who struggles with her brother’s and fiancé’s gazes. For instance, Sanaz’s brother violates her personal boundaries by spying on her, listening in on her phone conversations, driving her car around, and watching her every move to prove his manhood and show a dominance in their looking positions (Nafisi, 2003, p. 16). More importantly, her fiancé’s one-sided decision to call off their long-term relationship at a latter part of the memoir signifies a power imbalance within the looking relation that affect Sanaz’s identity. As a result, Sanaz’s demeanour drastically changes as she ventures into fleeting relationships with multiple suitors (p. 285) and is indecisive of her desire as seen at the end of the memoir when she dropped her plan to enrol in a university in Europe to become a full-time housewife (p. 342). Here, Sanaz becomes uncertain of her objet petit a and the drive is unable to circle back towards her. Consequently, Sanaz is unable to reclaim her individual identity that was lost in her looking relations with multiple male other gazes.

Conclusion

This study employs Lacan’s theories of the gaze to examine the nuances of subjectivity in Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran. The analysis focuses on the autobiographical narrator and her female students’ individual struggles to interrogate the institutional and voyeuristic gazes in order to reconstruct their agency. The mirror stage further emphasizes the castrating and alienating impact that Nafisi experienced under the existing male-dominated operations of the gaze. The findings underscore that all female characters grapple with resisting patriarchal gazes in Iranian culture, with only one character, Sanaz, unable to fully reclaim her looking positions.

Nafisi’s memoir challenges the pervasive stereotypes depicting Iranian women as weak, passive victims of patriarchy. Through the experiences of Nafisi, Mahshid, Yassi, Azin, Mitra, and Nassrin, the memoir defies the problematic perception of women as unresisting figures in the Iranian literary context. The power of looking emerges as a transformative force in redefining female identity. Contrary to the controversial reception of Iranian diaspora life writings as Western-oriented, this study illuminates how Nafisi’s narrative provides contrasting images of women possessing an assertive gaze. It rejects simplistic classifications of the memoir as pro-Western or neo-conservative, offering an alternative reading centred around characters’ individual struggles and efforts to reforge identity and agency as opposed to the portrayal of female subjugation. The study simultaneously complements the critique of the memoir as a narrative specific to the autobiographical narrator rather than a general commentary applicable to all women. In essence, Reading Lolita in Tehran challenges grand narratives, contributing to a nuanced understanding of Iranian women’s experiences and countering biases associated with Western-oriented perspectives. In this study, we showed that despite prevalent social and ideological norms in contemporary Iran, which often marginalizes women in visual interactions, women’s proactive challenge and subversion of these dynamics disrupt and overturn men’s dominance in the gaze. The memoir’s emphasis on individual agency and resilience, rooted in a keen awareness of and participation in looking operations, reveals a multifaceted portrayal of women in possession of an assertive gaze. This is particularly evident when considering the enduring struggles for agency among Iranian women, exemplified by the recent July 12, 2022, protest compulsory veiling. This protest underscores the ongoing relevance of women’s visibility and resistance to the male gaze in contemporary Iran. Nafisi’s memoir, intertwined with Lacan’s gaze theories, serves as a timeless narrative that seamlessly connects past and present, emphasizing the continued importance of championing women’s rights in Iran’s evolving socio-political landscape.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nurfarah Hadira Abdul Hadi

Nurfarah Hadira Binti Abdul Hadi is a researcher of literary studies at School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia and her research interests are in psychoanalysis, cultural studies, Middle Eastern and South (East) Asian diasporic literature, and gender studies.

Moussa Pourya Asl

Moussa Pourya Asl is an Affiliate at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu. He received his PhD in literary studies from the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, where he worked as a Senior Lecturer of literary studies from 2018 to 2023. His primary research area is in diasporic literature and gender and cultural studies. He has guest edited two special issues on postcolonial and diasporic literature and theory for the journal of The Wenshan Review. He has edited two books: Gender, Place, and Identity of South Asian Women (2022), and Urban Poetics and Politics in Contemporary South Asia and the Middle East (2023). He has published several articles in the above-mentioned areas.