We Are Iran Nasrin Alavi Portobello Books, 379pp, £9.99 ISBN 1933368055
"I blog, therefore I exist" may seem like a grandiloquent statement, but in Iran, where more than 100 publications have been closed since the draconian 1995 Press Law, the blogosphere has become a crucial outlet for dissent. The authorities have denounced it as a “network led by the CIA”, but because the web is harder to monitor, blogging has flourished.
Two-thirds of Iranians are under 30, well educated and techno-savvy (thanks to the regime’s policy of free education), and at the last count, there were more than 64,000 blogs in Farsi, compared with fewer than 50 being run from Iraq in any language. The rise of blogging has led to a “spooky” silence on university toilet walls, once called “Freedom Columns”.
These blog extracts, put into context and illustrated with photographs and sketches, give exposure to a broad spectrum of ideas. Many contributors honour figures hated by the regime, or celebrate the work of Persian poets deleted from Iran’s official history. But while the majority of voices are critical of the government, the perspective is nuanced: many, for example, bemoan how the Islamic revolution has turned people away from religion.
Nasrin Alavi’s commentary is pertinent – but, importantly, she lets people speak for themselves.
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