Shirin Neshat interviews Shahrnush Parsipur on Iranian women, literature, and exile in her final published conversation
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ArtReview Asia
Summary
An interview between artist Shirin Neshat and the late Iranian novelist Shahrnush Parsipur, conducted shortly before Parsipur's death in July. The conversation explores Parsipur's literary career, her novel "Women Without Men" (longlisted for the International Booker Prize), the enduring struggles of Iranian women as "the second sex," and the political and social conditions that shaped her writing and exile. The piece reflects on Parsipur's legacy as a bold feminist voice in Persian literature.
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Key quotes
· 5 pulledWomen in Iran are the second sex, not the first sex, and that has not changed. Iranian women still face the same problems they have always had
I write because I have to. It is not a choice. It is a necessity, like breathing.
The situation for women in Iran is not just about the veil. It is about being seen as inferior in every aspect of life.
Exile is a kind of death. You are alive but you are not home.
Literature can change the world, but slowly. It plants seeds that may take generations to grow.
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