I Will Turn off the Lights : The Allure of Marginality in Postrevolutionary Iran

The publication of Cheraghha ra man khamoosh mikonam (I Will Turn off the Lights [2001]), by an Iranian Armenian woman, Zoya Pirzad (b. 1952), about the everyday life of an Armenian family in 1960s Abadan, received much critical acclaim in Iranian literary circles. The novel was reprinted multiple times, became a best seller, and garnered many literary awards. The critics and reviewers in Iran praised this novel for its flawless diction, "even though it was written by an Armenian writer" as some critics said, and for its unique realist style. Most critics and readers have first and foremost stated their joy of reading the novel for its simplicity and realistic style. All but one critic mentioned that its author's being a member of a religious minority community in Iran made it a rare literary event.¹

The main theme of the novel is the story of an Iranian Armenian housewife, Claris, who finds herself emotionally and implicitly sexually attracted to a middle-aged man, her newly arrived neighbor from an aristocratic Iranian Armenian family that, after moving around the globe, has settled finally in Abadan—the city of immigrants from around Iran and the world. Much of the story is concentrated on family lives, the private sphere, and particularly Claris's kitchen, situated against the backdrop of the rapidly urbanizing city of Abadan, home to the Iranian oil refinery, in the 1960s. The fatal attraction is contrasted with the happy, seemingly normal routines of life that the heroine observes in great detail. The peak of the plot depicts a visit between Claris and her man of desire as it is interrupted by a massive attack of grasshoppers, reminiscent of the eighth plague that punished the sinful people of Egypt, as depicted in the Old Testament (Exodus). The heroine's discovery of her beloved's falling for another woman drives her into a short frenzy, and she finds herself once again entangled with daily routines and in love with the city and her harmonious life. The theme is not entirely novel; the setting—Abadan—a marginal yet significant city, the multiplicity of characters, and the points of view of members of a minority group, however, are unprecedented.

Modern Iranian history and literature have had a tenuous relationship with the religious minorities. The modernist project of nation building in Iran called for a reenvisioning of religion as a default tenet of Iranian national identity. The religious minorities became the other (gheir-e khodi) in cultural, religious, and literary ways. The modernist project experienced its first drawback in relation to the status of Jews and Armenians in particular; the first Majlis (Parliament) after the constitutional revolution of 1906–11 did not include an elected representative of the Armenians and Jews. In an attempt to prevent conflict with the ulema, the nationalists asked the Jewish and Armenian communities to withdraw their right to elect a representative to the Majlis and instead accept the leadership of Sayyid Abdullah Bihbahani and Sayyid Muhammd Tabatab'i, two prominent Muslim clergymen, as representatives of the Jewish and Armenian communities, respectively.² As a result, the nationalist vision of a unified Iran did not allot an autonomous sphere to Jews and Armenians.³ The Iranian nation became equivalent to the Muslim nation, and hence the religious minorities became an extension of the homogenous nation living under its protection. Intentionally or not, Iranian modern writers and intellectuals took it on themselves to "represent" the Armenian stereotypes in their works of art and literature. Hence, modern Iranian novels, plays, movies, and poems are filled with images of the Armenians, the Other, whose accents distinguished them from the "normal" population and whose occupations fell under the realm of haram (i.e., winemakers, pork sellers, and exotic dancers).⁴

During the Pahlavi era (1925–79), the religious minorities continued a contingent and tolerated existence along with the Muslim nation. In the past twenty-seven years under the Islamic state, Armenians have continued to carve out a space for their community, albeit on the margins. The popular stereotypes of Armenians in the literature and...