Abstract
This is a book review of Claudia Yaghoobi, Temporary Marriage in Iran: Gender and Body Politics in Modern Iranian Film and Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020).
Highlights
Yaghoobi identifies sigheh as a state-approved instrument for managing real and imagined sexual frustrations
Claudia Yaghoobi’s book is divided into three parts: a general overview of temporary marriage as a practice in Iran, a second part that presents an analysis of three novels and two short stories from the Pahlavi era (1924-1979) and a third part on two cinematic works produced after the Islamic Revolution (1979-)
Temporary Marriage in Iran spans nearly a hundred years of cultural upheaval that saw significant transformations for women in the public sphere dominated by patriarchal repression regardless of the direction the political pendulum swung
Summary
Yaghoobi identifies sigheh as a state-approved instrument for managing real and imagined sexual frustrations. It isn’t really about temporary marriage or sigheh, a practice alternative to ‘permanent’ marriage or nikah. Its focus falls squarely on the social mythology of female sexuality in narratives where temporary marriage plays an incidental part.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
