by Dr. Laetitia Nanquette

 

The medium of print is a powerful tool that has links throughout all echelons of society. Hence, the Iranian state, despite the various forms it has taken over this long period, has consistently shown a keen interest in utilizing and influencing the publishing sector. The state predominantly communicates its ideology and contributes to shaping its identity through the medium of print.

What is the role of the state in the Iranian publishing industry since 1950 and how does this role evolve as the industry itself changes? How are these evolutions entangled?

The intertwining and negotiations between publishing and the state are the focus of this talk. I will examine the historical context, legal framework and state interventions that have shaped the publishing industry over this period.Dr. Laetitia Nanquette is Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. She holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She was trained in France, the United Kingdom, Iran and the United States, before moving to Australia. She is the author of the award-winning Orientalism versus Occidentalism: Literary and Cultural Imaging Between France and Iran since the Islamic Revolution (I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury 2013), and Iranian Literature after the Islamic Revolution. Production and Circulation in Iran and the World (Edinburgh University Press, 2021).