In The Name of The Rainbow: The Bridge-Building Goddess of Hope with Farzaneh Milani

Dr. Farzaneh Milani discusses the semiotics of the rainbow in Iranian literature as it reflects the societal struggles for freedom and women's rights in present day Iran. This event was organized on March 7, 2024. “In the name of the Rainbow Goddess,” said the nine-year-old Kian Pirfallak before launching his hand-made toy boat. The budding poet who wanted to become a robotic engineer was shot dead on November 16, 2022, during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising. His mourning mother posted her slain son’s video online. It went viral. Rainbow flags were waved at his funeral. A rainbow adorns his tombstone. The semiotics of the rainbow are rich in Iranian religions, literature, and arts. Often, like its occurrence in nature, a rainbow appears at the intersection of opposites—sunshine and raindrops; life and death; beginnings and endings. For the purposes of this presentation, Dr. Farzaneh Milani uses the rainbow as a metaphor for a bridge. She will focus on how this metaphor illuminates and is illuminated by the specific story of Iranian writers and poets at this incisive turning point in Iranian literature. Farzaneh Milani is Raymond J. Nelson Professor of Iranian literature and Gender Studies at the University of Virginia. She has published several articles and books, most recently The Literary Biography of Forugh Farrokhzad and Unpublished Letters. Milani is currently working on a book project tentatively titled, “Iranian Writers at the Threshold of the Local and the Global.”