16. The Republic of Imagination by Azar Nafisi Azar Nafisi, author of the classic Reading Lolita in Tehran , turns her attention to her adopted country's relationship with literature. In Reading Lolita , Nafisi and her students escape the oppression of their circumstances through defiantly reading American literature. In Imagination , she belies the claim that because Americans have not experienced oppression, we do not appreciate our own literature. She defends the importance of literature, of the realm of thought that she dubs "the Republic of Imagination," which, she insists, is the true locus of our ability to innovate and to remain free. What is characteristic of both Nafisi's memoirs-in-books, and what sets them apart from the many books that have aped the concept since Reading Lolita came out in 2003, is that while she is not afraid to relate her personal reactions to books, she also provides analytical close readings that bring readers face-to-face wi...
Life, Books, and SFF