Claudia Tokacs:
Did you always have the idea for this book in mind, or where there specific events or people that inspired it?
Shiva Rahbaran:
I was torn between the desire to forget about Iran and the urgent need to tell foreigners about the forbidden Iran of Iran, the “unofficial” one, the one at home.
I wanted readers to quickly move beyond pathos and catharsis , so that I could introduce them to the story and history of contemporary Iran with a clear mind and vision. Therefore, I aimed to diminish voyeurism – essential in the process of viewing others as “strangers” (“the others”) – and prepare readers to live our experience from the inside, as if they were in our shoes.