Warring Souls: Youth, Media, and Martyrdom in Post-Revolution Iran
by Roxanne Varzi
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Book Summary Information
Author: Roxanne VarziEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-05-31
ISBN: 0822337215
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Duke University Press Books
Book Reviews of Warring Souls: Youth, Media, and Martyrdom in Post-Revolution Iran
Book Review: Interesting exercise, but seriously problematic
Summary: 1 Stars
This book is a reworked version of the author's PhD dissertation in anthropology. As such, it is quite surprising how short it falls of being a serious ethnographic work.
This (over)ambitious book looks at visual culture in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Iran, primarily from the perspective of elite Iranian youth. The core argument is that Khomeini and the revolutionary class of clerics, informed by Marxism, produced an image regime where "images worked to create a state of martyrdom and ultimately a religious state" (p. 6). This image regime is analyzed through the framework of the Sufi poetry of Nizami, and (sometimes) Hegelian dialectics. But for a book that deals with media and visual culture, it is shocking that the author seems to be unaware of a long tradition of theorizing in media studies and anthropology. Nowhere in the book do we see an engagement with even the most basic literature in performance theory, discourse and genre, or semiotics. Even the discussion of Sufi poetry lacks any kind of justification or serious explanation. There is lots of name dropping throughout the book. The reader often comes across people such as Arendt, Fanon and Ibn Khaldoun with strong assertions about what these authors said. Despite the dazzling effect, anyone that might have had the chance to read these authors would realize that Varzi has no clue what she is talking about.
On a more positive note, the book does contain some interesting quotes and anecdotes from the author's field research in Iran. It is also an interesting attempt at experimenting with ethnography as a literary genre, albeit it is a failed attempt by all standards. A confused and under-theorized book. Read with caution!
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