We Are Iran: The Persian Blogs (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In September 2001 Hossein Derakhshan, a young Iranian journalist who had recently moved to Canada, set up one of the very first weblogs in Farsi,..." (more)
Key Phrases: hardline clerics, ruling clerics, state clerics, United States, Ayatollah Khomeini, Shirin Ebadi (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In September 2001, a young Iranian journalist, Hossein Derakhshan, created one of the first weblogs in Farsi. When he also devised a simple how-to-blog guide for Iranians, it unleashed a torrent of hitherto unheard opinions. There are now 64,000 blogs in Farsi, and Nasrin Alavi has painstakingly reviewed them all, weaving the most powerful and provocative into a striking picture of the flowering of dissent in Iran. From one blogger’s blasting of the Supreme Leader as a "pimp" to another’s mourning for an identity crushed by the stifling protection of her male relatives, this collection functions not only as an archive of Iranians’ thoughts on their country, culture, religion, and the rest of the world, but also as an alternative recent history of Iran. Government crackdowns may soon still these voices — in February 2005, one blogger was sentenced to 14 years in jail — and We Are Iran may serve as the only serious record of their existence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (November 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933368055
• ISBN-13: 978-1933368054
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #229,966 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complicated Persian yes we are!, February 10, 2006

By	Niloofar Gheissari - See all my reviews

Nice book but with some problems.
I have lived outside Iran for the past 5 years. This book gave me a nice insight to the dynamic of Iranian society. It is not just a collection of web logs, I enjoyed most of the analysis as well. It covers many different events in Iran.

However I got this impression (perhaps I am wrong) that the author wants to assert that Iranian society is pro-democracy and pro-modernity only because it is pro western.

I detest this assertion because according to history, freedom and modernity has a much deeper root in Iranian culture than it does in the western culture. The fact that we are more pro-western than the rest of middle east, is partly because we have more in common with the West than with Arabs in our neighborhood.

What you see among young Iranians is indeed Persian culture which is only some times covered with a thin layer of western representation. A reader should not overlook the obvious fact that when it comes to nationalist feeling, the authority of Persian culture (over Western culture) among the young Iranians is prominent.

From the web logs you see most of Iranians have not yet completely forgotten what nasty plots Britain and US did in Iran.

Another issue I would like to mention is that although high level of computer literacy among Iranian young (who are mainly well educated) is a reason of having so many web logs in Iran, there are some other reasons too. (why for example China does not have so many web logs?)

Have you noticed that Persians are one of the most literature lovers in the world possessing such a great heritage of poetry? We have always been so fascinated by the power of words. Edward Brown (the British orientalist lived 1862-1926) has some valuable comments on it.

I strongly suggest this book, but please take into the account that web loggers are mainly middle class, not intellectual class and not the lower class.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book about Iran ever., March 2, 2006

By	S. M. Hogan (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All my life I've had the vague idea that Persia was the source of one of the world's most important cultures, but I would have had a hard time explaining why. No longer. Alavi covers a truly impressive range of topics in her exploration of the Iranian blogosphere, from pre-Islamic festivals to postmodern music, but what she does best is *sell* Iran and Iranian culture. After reading this book, I've not only started collecting Iranian recordings and renting Iranian DVDs, I've also decided that life is too short not to learn Persian. If the Iranian authorities were smart, they'd name her Minister of Culture.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We Are Iran is Awesome, January 9, 2007

By	Lora F. - See all my reviews

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys getting the in-depth story from the actual people who are living it, rather than the politicized, over-simplified version that you get from the mainstream media. If you've ever asked yourself, "what is up with Iran?!" this is the book for you. Ms. Alavi risks her life in publishing it, as do the bloggers. It's a testimony to the extraordinary value of free speech that we who have it must never forget to appreciate. This book contains excerpts from blogs written by Iranians. Ms. Alavi intersperses the blogs with historical, cultural, and statistical information about Iran (and Persia). It's fascinating, easy to read, eye-opening, encouraging, and very well-written. It's the kind of book that students in Iranian studies classes should be reading.