Censorship pervades all aspects of political, social and cultural life in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Faced with strict state control of cultural output, Iranian authors and writers have had to adapt their work to avoid falling foul of the censors. In this pioneering study, Alireza Abiz offers an in-depth, interdisciplinary analysis of how censorship and the political order of Iran have influenced contemporary Persian literature, both in terms of content and tone. As censorship is unrecorded and not officially acknowledged in Iran, the author has examined newspaper records and conducted first-hand interviews with Iranian poets and writers. looking into the ways in which poets and writers attempt to subvert the codes of censorship by using symbolism and figurative language to hide their more controversial messages. A ground-breaking analysis, this book will be vital reading for anyone interested in contemporary cultural politics and literature in Iran.

1. A Brief History of Censorship in Iran from the Early Days of the Press until the 1979 Revolution 2. Laws, Theories and Policies of Censorship in the Islamic Republic of Iran 3. The Censor Machine: Strcuture and Mechanism, Operators, Changes and Variations 4. Censors at Work 5. Reward and Punishment: Different Tools for the Same End6. How Do Writers and Poets React to Censorship? 7. How Is Censorship Affecting Iranian Literature?8. ConclusionNotes and ReferencesBibliography Index