Reading Lolita in Tehran Literary Elements

Memoir

Tehran, Iran. Before, during, and after the Iranian Revolution (roughly 1975-1995).

Azar Nafisi, the book's author, narrates in the first person.

Dark and lyrical

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Strict rules with regard to gender and education in Tehran, and especially at Tehran University, force Nafisi to resign from her professorship. Political unrest disturbs the lives of Nafisi and her students as she attempts to secretly educate a few women in Western literature.

The book is purposefully written without a true climax, but it arguably be Nafisi's decision to leave Iran.

As Nafisi skips around in time throughout her novel, events are often foreshadowed by showing the result before the event itself. For example, the book begins with Nafisi having already resigned from Tehran University.

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"Reading Lolita in Tehran" is rife with allusions to works of literature, as the book centers on discussions of the literature Nafisi and her students read and examine.

Strong, sometimes disturbing imagery from Nafisi's memories of revolutionary Tehran are juxtaposed with the muted imagery of Nafisi's students and daily life.

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