Azar Nafisi, Humanities & the Future of Democracies

Azar Nafisi, Humanities & the Future of Democracies

Ten years ago Azar Nafisi electrified readers with her memoir READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN, a multi-million copy bestseller that made a passionate case for the vital role of imagination -- and great English and American novels in particular -- in preserving the soul and combating noxious ideology of a totalitarian society. She now turns her attention back to the democratic society that gave birth to these great novels and makes as powerful and passionate a case for the vital role of fiction in society today. Why we need Humanities today at a time of crisis, how far is the present economic and political crisis rooted in the larger crisis of vision? How far does imagination open the spaces that a totalitarian regime closes? And finally can a democracy thrive without a democratic imagination? She will try to respond to these questions based on her experiences in Iran and in America