Postcolonial Feminism, Subaltern Voices, and Literary Resistance in Azar Nafisi's Reading Lolita in Tehran

This study examines Lolita in Tehran (2003) by Azar Nafisi from an interdisciplinary perspective, informed by postcolonial feminism, subaltern theory, and counter-narrative discourse. The central argument is that Nafisi's memoir practices a form of literary opposition, where reading the banned Western literature that humiliates Iranians turns into a feminist and subaltern tactic of defiance under Iran's authoritarian and patriarchal regime. Employing a qualitative hermeneutic approach and close textual analysis, the study examines how the memoir's structure, literary allusions, and classroom scenes serve as counter-discursive spaces of resistance. Through theoretical lenses such as Spivak's concept of subalternity, Mohanty's critique of Western feminism, and Scott's notion of hidden transcripts, the research reveals how silenced female voices are reinscribed into history through acts of literary interpretation. Findings indicate that the study disrupts the binary constructions of the Iranian woman as a victim/passive reactant that is submerged in the role of an intellectual agent. The memoir serves as both a cultural resistance and a feminist self-history. This study contributes to scholarship on contemporary Middle Eastern memoirs, women's resistance narratives, and the broader politics of reading under repression. Future studies should investigate literary reading as a means of resistance and identity formation.