Review by Colin Credle
Often when travelling, it is the random stranger that finds the courage to tell you everything, to bare their soul, safe in the knowledge you will never see each other again. In Iranian Love Stories, Jane Deuxard is a pseudonym for two journalists who travelled to Iran, where it’s illegal for foreign journalists to visit. They took enormous personal risk posing as a married couple to interview young Iranians in their twenties about love, marriage and the theocratic restrictions of the current regime. Deuxard assured their subjects they would not see each other again and their identities would be protected. Their subjects found the courage to tell it like it is.
Iranian Love Stories is an intimate portrait, each Iranian clearly embracing the safety of anonymity and the liberation of momentary, unrestrained frankness. They describe the kind of lovemaking that is allowed, the virginity inspections before marriage, the incessant surveillance of worried mothers over their daughters. Each subject tells their story of meeting, of courting, of hiding, of being pursued and their view on a country westerners rarely can visit; and when foreigners do visit, having this level of insightful cultural perspective is unlikely. The narrative is invested with more punch thanks to the unobtrusive commentary by the authors. Any observations of the journalists are kept to discrete pages and rarely, if ever, overshadow the voice of our lovers.
Although Iranian Love Stories has little action, it depicts mostly people sitting and talking, or driving somewhere and discussing love stories, it remains gripping, revealing and a powerful guidebook to the Kafkaesque cultural constraints. There are the Basijis, a voluntary auxiliary paramilitary force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in every city that patrols and randomly confronts citizens engaging in any behaviour considered immoral. They enforce morality with checkpoints, citizen’s arrests, public shaming and arrests that can lead to torture. There are cameras everywhere in Iran, capturing anyone violating the strict moral codes such as any woman walking without sufficiently covering her ankles with socks.
Gila, 26, was met in downtown Tehran in a park and she tells the tale of attending a party at someone’s apartment where alcohol was served. It was raided by the Police, who beat the men who were drinking, and arrested all the women and took them to the Police Station, where any woman caught drinking had their virginity inspected. Because Gila was still wearing her veil and had not been drinking, she escaped inspection and was released. After this, she understandably decided never to attend another party.
The illustrations do a beautiful job amplifying the details with references and satire that do not diminish but make these suffocating constraints more relatable. Iranian Love Stories is a travelogue that pulls the curtain back and an exploration of the risks, the lack of clarity in searching for love where marriages are arranged, interactions are proscribed and for many the future is feared. Although most readers might hesitate to read Iranian Love Stories more than once, it is a graphic novel that stays with you, and you will find yourself insisting that others read it as well. Mature Content.
