Iranian Officials Arrest ‘Funny in Farsi’ Translator

When Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America went on sale inside Iran in 2005, Iranians snapped up more than 100,000 copies. The book that had been such a success in America had been translated into Persian by Iranian scholar Mohammed Soleimani Nia.

Two weeks ago, Iranian authorities arrested Soleimani Nia. According to a petition advocating for his release , he was questioned by intelligence officials in late November. Then in January he was called to the Revolutionary Court. That’s when security guards searched his home, seizing electronic devices and documents. His whereabouts since then are unknown.

Iranian American writer Firoozeh Dumas worked closed with Soleimani Nia on the translation of her book Funny in Farsi.

“The irony is Mohammed is the least political person I know,” she tells host Lisa Mullins. “… this is why I find it so painful for him to be in prison, because I know that man is completely innocent.”

Dumas says Soleimani Nia had been working on developing a website similar to “LinkedIn,” designed to help Iranians find jobs.

‘I’m guessing that that must have been something that was suspicious for the government,” Dumas said.

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Lisa Mullins: I am Lisa Mullins and this is The World, the co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH in Boston. Writer Firoozeh Dumas is well known for the biting humor in her book “Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America” but there is no humor in what’s happened to the man who translated her book into Persian for readers in Iran. Iranian intelligence officials questioned translator Mohammed Soleimani Nia in late November and he hasn’t been seen since January; that’s when he was called before the Revolutionary Court. Security guards searched his home. They seized electronic devices and documents. Author Firoozeh Dumas wonders what authorities were expecting to find in her translator’s home.

Firoozeh Dumas: I don’t know what they were looking for but what I do know is that Mohammed also had a site which he had started which was very similar to “LinkedIn.” It basically connected people in Iran who are looking for jobs and I’m guessing that that must have been something that was suspicious for the government. The irony is that Mohammed is the least political person I know and during the time when he was translating “Funny in Farsi” for me he made it very clear he had no interest in politics whatsoever. Oftentimes in our emails I would just throw in a political question because, of course, I just wanted to hear something because I would hear something on the news in America and wonder what his take on it was. Even though he would answer all my questions, he never once answered any political question.

Mullins: How do you know him at all, by the way?

Dumas: Well, he contacted me when “Funny in Farsi” came out because he wanted permission to translate my book which, in a nut of itself, says a lot about him because Iran does not adhere to international copyright laws. So, nobody has to ask the author’s permission to translate and publish a book. So, he asked my permission and then he sent me a chapter that he had translated and I thought that it was quite good. He also told me…

Mullins: Not easy to do, by the way; to translate it because it’s humor. It’s humor about your life here as an Iranian-American living in California.

Dumas: Translating humor is one of the hardest things because you have to find the equivalent in the other language. I do want to share a story about that, but one thing that also really impressed me about Mohammed was, he said to me that I would have the final edit on all the stories and he incorporated all my edits. The man had no ego. He just really wanted to translate this book well and I was so impressed during the year that I worked with him and I felt like his personality was just so pure. One thing I do want to say about the difficulty of translating humor: Mohammed had learned English in Iran and he really spoke it very well, but there were culture references in “Funny in Farsi” that he didn’t understand. One time he emailed me and he said, “What is shake and bake?” I said, “Well, it’s a product that comes in a box and there’s spices and there’s a plastic bag, and you cut up a chicken and you put it in the bag and then you shake the spices in the bag.” I said, “But, the important part is that, in the commercials, when the lady is doing this she’s always really joyful.”

Mullins: [laughs] She’s dancing.

Dumas: He emailed me and he said, “I don’t think I can translate that.”

Mullins: [laughs] There is no translation. But you think he did a really good job otherwise at bringing humor to this bit of Iranian-American literature. You heard from a lot of Iranians, so it was successful, it was selling a lot of copies.

Dumas: Well, the Persian version of “Funny in Farsi” sold about 100,000 copies and it has since been… It’s no longer allowed to be published because the censors decided it needed to be further censored. But, the 100,000 copies that it sold is an unbelievable number for a country like Iran which is about the size of Texas.

Mullins: When you say that the government banned it for further censorship, how was it censored, to begin with?

Dumas: Well, there was one entire chapter that was called “A ham amendment” that was removed.

Mullins: What was the ham amendment?

Dumas: The ham amendment is a story about my father who in 1953 won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in America. During the year that he was in America, he fell in love with democracy, jello and ham. Obviously, he’s still working on the democracy, but that entire chapter was removed.

Mullins: Do you think, Firoozeh, that it was Mohammed’s translation, the fact that he translated your book that landed him in trouble? Or, do you think it was something entirely separate?

Dumas: I don’t know. What I do know is that he did become known because of the translation and I know that others associated with the book have been visited by the government. I don’t know what the reason is for his arrest but, given that lately bloggers, journalists have all been imprisoned, I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t think anybody really does, but I think he’s been swept up in something that is much bigger than we understand.

Mullins: You’re drawing attention to it now, for what reason?

Dumas: Well, I feel that when someone is taken away to a prison without any reason whatsoever, without the ability to have a lawyer, without the ability to have what we in America call due process, it is up to the rest of us to keep this person’s name alive. Now, I have to say I do hope people understand there are so many others like him that I’m also thinking of, but I’m hoping that by drawing attention to Mohammed’s case that others will also get attention.

Mullins: Firoozeh Dumas is an Iranian-American writer and author of the book “Funny in Farsi” as well as other books. She spoke with us about the arrest in Iran of her translator Mohammed Soleimani Nia. Thank you very much.

Dumas: Thank you so much Lisa. It’s always a pleasure.

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