Armenian Woman, Minoritarian Agency, and the Making of Iranian Modernity, 1860–1979

Houri Berberian is Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, and author of Roving Revolutionaries: Armenians and the Connected Revolutions of the Russian, Iranian, and Ottoman Worlds (2019).Talinn Grigor is Professor of Art History at the University of California, Davis, and author of The Persian Revival: The Imperialism of the Copy in Iranian and Parsi Architecture (2021).

• Introduction: Min(d)ing the Gap I. From Photo-Studio Sitters to Organizational Leaders, 1860–1899 1. Ethnographic Subjects and Advocates of Education 2. Transimperial Connections and Disciplinary Power II. Volunteerism and Revolutionary Benevolence, 1892–1925 3. Volunteerist Ethos and Performance of Solidarity 4. Radical Politics of Charity and Progress III. The Satirized and Contested New Woman, 1925–1958 5. Charity's Triumph and Patriarchal Reckoning 6. The New Armenian Woman in Action and in Print IV. Indigenous Feminism and State-Minority Engagements, 1960–1977 7. The Golden Age of Feminism 8. Nation-Community and State-Minority Bonds Conclusion: Vision Interrupted

"A richly documented, vigorously narrated account of the processes through which Armenian women attained agency and played a role in shaping modernity, both in Iran and along the trans-imperial pathways of the Armenian diaspora, engaging communities in Tsarist Russia, Ottoman Turkey, and the British Empire." —Khachig Tölölyan, Wesleyan University"This beautifully conceived and groundbreaking history of modern Armenian women fills a gaping lacuna in studies of Armenians in Iran and the Middle East. Working with a vast array of sources, the authors give texture to the multifaceted experiences of Armenian women and a critical re-reading of portrayals of Armenians." —Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, University of Pennsylvania"Houri Berberian and Talinn Grigor skillfully weave analysis of the cultural production of Armenian Iranian women with direct accounts from the women themselves, inviting us to reimagine Iranian modernity as the product of a pluralistic society. This book is a triumph of collaborative research, interpretation, and storytelling." —Camron Amin, University of Michigan-Dearborn"An important and welcome intervention as the first comprehensive study of Iranian Armenian women's representation, agency, and activism in the modern era." —Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi, Diaspora