Ardeshir Mehrdad: What was your motive for compiling the anthology entitled The Book of Prison [1... more Ardeshir Mehrdad: What was your motive for compiling the anthology entitled The Book of Prison [1]. Nasser Mohajer: First and foremost, to record what we have lived through. I think as Iranian intellectuals that we have to record all corners of this experience whenever we can, and to record what happened to us over the last two decades as a people. This in itself is an important task. When it comes to prisons, well it is such a crucial experience. So little has been written on this important experience. A vital task for those who challenge despotism is to fight against forgetfulness. Despotism feeds on forgetfulness. A cornerstone of resistance is to resist forgetting which motivated us to record the defiance of the tens of thousands, nay hundreds of thousands who stood face to face with the Islamic Republic and resisted. The prison books are a contribution to the struggle against collective amnesia. Ardeshir Mehrdad: It seems that increasing attention is being paid over the last few years to what took place inside the prisons of the Islamic Republic. A number of ex-prisoners have written and published their memoirs. A new branch of literature is apparently taking its place alongside the other branches of the literature of our country. What do you think? Nasser Mohajer: I agree. We now have a prison literature which has appeared in the last ten to twelve years. Incidentally, it is not the first time we, as a people, have faced despotism. The struggle against tyranny for freedom, for progress, for social justice, for modernism has been a constant feature of contemporary Iranian history. In the previous periods, both under Reza Shah and his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, of the numerous political prisoners, only a handful published their memoirs or reflected on the experience. Under the present system many political prisoners once released have written about it. Of course it will take time. It is not easy to forego such a trauma and immediately live through it all over again by recounting it. It took more than ten years before we could compile the first collection of prison memoirs. But, as a few stepped forwards and broke the taboo, the door opened to others. It was not an easy escapade. You have yourself been a political prisoner. This is especially true under this regime. Its penitentiary system follows a different logic from other despotic prison systems. Had this path not been paved, we could not have embarked on this anthology. Those early works allowed us to talk to others, whom we knew, had painful memories weighing heavily on their chests. But for a variety of reasons it was hard
Alex Callinicos: The current situationnot only but especially in the Middle Eastis defined by t... more Alex Callinicos: The current situationnot only but especially in the Middle Eastis defined by the imperialist offensive mounted by the United States and its closest allies (notably Israel and Britain) since 11 September 2001. Carried out under the slogan of the 'war on ...
The last three decades have witnessed a relentless growth of political Islam to the extent that i... more The last three decades have witnessed a relentless growth of political Islam to the extent that it is an undeniable reality on the contemporary world stage. From the Middle East to North Africa and South Asia, the proponents of political Islam profess themselves 'seekers of justice' ...
Ardeshir Mehrdad: What was your motive for compiling the anthology entitled The Book of Prison [1... more Ardeshir Mehrdad: What was your motive for compiling the anthology entitled The Book of Prison [1]. Nasser Mohajer: First and foremost, to record what we have lived through. I think as Iranian intellectuals that we have to record all corners of this experience whenever we can, and to record what happened to us over the last two decades as a people. This in itself is an important task. When it comes to prisons, well it is such a crucial experience. So little has been written on this important experience. A vital task for those who challenge despotism is to fight against forgetfulness. Despotism feeds on forgetfulness. A cornerstone of resistance is to resist forgetting which motivated us to record the defiance of the tens of thousands, nay hundreds of thousands who stood face to face with the Islamic Republic and resisted. The prison books are a contribution to the struggle against collective amnesia. Ardeshir Mehrdad: It seems that increasing attention is being paid over the last few years to what took place inside the prisons of the Islamic Republic. A number of ex-prisoners have written and published their memoirs. A new branch of literature is apparently taking its place alongside the other branches of the literature of our country. What do you think? Nasser Mohajer: I agree. We now have a prison literature which has appeared in the last ten to twelve years. Incidentally, it is not the first time we, as a people, have faced despotism. The struggle against tyranny for freedom, for progress, for social justice, for modernism has been a constant feature of contemporary Iranian history. In the previous periods, both under Reza Shah and his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, of the numerous political prisoners, only a handful published their memoirs or reflected on the experience. Under the present system many political prisoners once released have written about it. Of course it will take time. It is not easy to forego such a trauma and immediately live through it all over again by recounting it. It took more than ten years before we could compile the first collection of prison memoirs. But, as a few stepped forwards and broke the taboo, the door opened to others. It was not an easy escapade. You have yourself been a political prisoner. This is especially true under this regime. Its penitentiary system follows a different logic from other despotic prison systems. Had this path not been paved, we could not have embarked on this anthology. Those early works allowed us to talk to others, whom we knew, had painful memories weighing heavily on their chests. But for a variety of reasons it was hard
Alex Callinicos: The current situationnot only but especially in the Middle Eastis defined by t... more Alex Callinicos: The current situationnot only but especially in the Middle Eastis defined by the imperialist offensive mounted by the United States and its closest allies (notably Israel and Britain) since 11 September 2001. Carried out under the slogan of the 'war on ...
The last three decades have witnessed a relentless growth of political Islam to the extent that i... more The last three decades have witnessed a relentless growth of political Islam to the extent that it is an undeniable reality on the contemporary world stage. From the Middle East to North Africa and South Asia, the proponents of political Islam profess themselves 'seekers of justice' ...
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