Chahdortt Djavann: A French Author is Born says PARISIAN Elle BY DARIUS KADIVAR

Paris Report

Iranian author Chahdortt Djavann finds intellectual companionship in French author of Persian Letters (*)

« Today in France, we see Islamists who are more dangerous than those in Islamic countries, and I believe that they have become the intermediaries for government institutions in this country” says controversial French naturalized citizen Chahdortt Djavann.

Chahdortt Djavann, born in Iran in 1967, but lives in Paris since 1993. Her first novel, Je viens d'ailleurs aka I come from elsewhere was published in 2002. In the Fall of 2003 she published a political pamphlet that generated great controversy in France called   Bas Les Voiles   aka Down with the Veil ! As well as a second novel entitled Auto portrait de l'autre followed by her essay Que Pense Allah of Europe ? aka What does Allah think of Europe ? She has gathered notice in Literary circles and is published in both France and Germany.

Seen like the Iranian Equivalent of Italian Journalist Oriana Fallacci (**) who wrote a powerful post-September 11 manifesto: The Rage and the Pride , Djavann's opinions sometimes extreme in its rejection of muslim faith are not always shared in France where Islam is the second religion with an important north African community. Her views seem nevertheless to divide public opinion given her very harsh and often bold criticism's of Islam and her struggle for Muslim Women's rights.

Left: Oriana Fallacci famed and controversial Italian Journalist Right Chahdortt Djavann gains critical acclaim in French Press for her latest novel tribute published in French to Montesquieu's Persian Letters .

Her latest book is a novel inspired by the Persian Letters of Montesquieu and ironically titled Comment Peut-on être Français ? aka How can we be French  ? in tribute to Montesquieu's famous interrogation Comment Peut-on être Persan ?

Her latest novel has got some positively critical attention in the February issue of Elle Magazine the leading female magazine in France.

Hailed by part of the French Press, Djavann latest novel Comment Peut-on être Français ? seems to be tainted by more humor than her previous works.

The French editor summarizes the plot of the novel is as follows :

Roxane arrives in Paris. As only luggage she has only her enthusiasm, naivety , her desir and her rage to learn the French language. She wants to become French through the language. However the French Language reveals itself as difficult and an unfaithful companion. “What a pest, yet beautiful one this language which is simply the most beautiful one” says Roxane. The scars of her Iranian childhood troubles her Parisian life. Souvenirs murmur silently to her ears. She find in Montesquieu thoughts a legendary intellectual companion. She explains her life to Montesquieu as well as Today's World to the author of the Persian Letters. In a writing where imagination confounds itself with reality, where humor and fantasy are confronted to melancholy and bitterness the young women is aware that everything has a price and that she cannot escape the often dark reality of the world. The novel which is closer to that of a philosophical tale impresses the reader by its lightness of being, humor and yet sober tone.

Chahdortt Djavann was awarded the Prix International de la Laïcité aka the International Prize of Secularism in  2003.

Author's note:

Comment Peut-on être Français ? can be purchased on amazon.fr

Express Interview http://www.lexpress.fr/info/societe/dossier/foulard/dossier.asp?ida=409994

(*) Charles–Louis de Sécondat , Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu (1689–1755), was born into a family of noble judges near Bordeaux. He published The Persian Letters anonymously because he feared that his criticisms of the recently deceased Louis XIV might get him into trouble with government officials. The novel made him an overnight sensation. He sold his position as a judge and devoted himself to travel and writing. In The Persian Letters , he uses a fictional correspondence between two Persians to reflect on the meaning of government and social customs. He paid great attention to the treatment of women and the place of wives in society.

(**) Fallaci was one of the first women to be allowed to interview Ayatollah Khomeiny in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution of 1979. Known for her outspokenness she took off her veil in front of the Religious Leader of the Iranian Revolution protesting against what she considered as Islam's unfair laws against Women.

Excerpts of Montesquieu's Persian Letters published in 1721 :

http://www.wm.edu/history/rbsche/plp/