Among the Iranians

In the wake of the current media focus on Iran's nuclear technology development and its place in Middle East politics, the West continues its quest to understand this paradoxical nation: its politics, yes, but also its people, their culture, and even the everyday customs and rituals. Among the Iranians presents an inside look at the hidden "rules" that exist among Iranians, from polite behavior and the underlying cultural notion of face to gender roles to the image that every Iranian wants to project to the world. Western readers may be familiar with a stereotyped view of Iran's unchanging "high culture" in its great mosques and squares and to some extent its classical literature in the poems of Hafez and Khayyam. However, this book aims to convey the nitty-gritty of everyday life in Iran: how to queue for bread, how to get a job done in a government office, dress codes and degrees of piety, marriage as a connection between families, the elaborate system of Persian politeness.

Written with a mix of personal observation and intercultural theory, the goal of Among the Iranians is to open people's eyes about the fascinating everyday reality of Iran-in short, the book seeks to explain everything you ever wanted to discover about Iran's culture and customs, but didn't even know to ask.

Greek-born Sofia A. Koutlaki is married to an Iranian and recently spent three years living and lecturing in Iran before moving back to the UK; she has since returned to Tehran with her family, maintaining dual residences in Iran and the UK.