Full Description
Iranian Diaspora Identities: Stories and Songs combines oral history, storytelling, theories of communication, and performance studies into a unique study of an immigrant community. This book is the result of collaborative work between two Iranian-American immigrants, one a musician and artist and the other a professor. Using ethnographic, dramatistic, and oral history approaches, Ziba Shirazi gathered these stories of diaspora journeys of Iranians living in California and Toronto in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The editors transcribed these stories and developed them into short performance pieces that include lyrics and songs and were performed in the United States and Canada to thousands of people in theater venues and libraries. These stories constitute a unique archive of the history of contemporary Iranian diaspora experiences. They are autobiographic vignettes that have helped constitute an artistic vision of Iranian exiles' own sense of community and their migratory experiences that inform the transformations they experienced in family, gender, and spiritual beliefs. In addition to providing an archive of experiences, the book uses social drama and storytelling to advocate for a new methodology for documenting Iranian diaspora accounts. It constitutes a new contribution to the existing literature on Iranian diaspora and furthers an exciting contribution to scholarship in qualitative research in communication studies.
Contents
Acknowledgments
A Note on Translations, Monologues, and Stories
Introduction: Revolution, War, and the Making of an Iranian Diaspora Literature .
Monologues
1.My Rite of Passage and Unexpected Fate
Ziba Shirazi
2.The Outsider
Fariba Boghraty
3.The Pain of Language Barrier
Farrokh Boghraty
4.Senior Life
Massy Alavi
5.Lost Identity
Nasrin Almasi
6.A Girl with an American Husband
Shahla
7.Made in America, Delivered in Iran
Shahrzad Safinya
8.Unfulfilled Dreams
Shervin
9.A Simple Dream
Valentina Nazaretian
Stories
10A Dream of Hope
Mahvash Dareshi Gheytanchi Levi
11.Asal (Honey)
Homayoun Houshiarnejad
12.Living a Full Life
Iran
13.A Space to Design
Manijeh Teymouri
14.A Small Suitcase for a Great Escape
Modjgan Rashtian
15.The Teacher
Sorour Nayeri
16.The First Kiss
Vida Ghahremani
17.The Doorbell Ring
Zohreh
In Place of a Conclusion. A Selective Analysis of the Themes of Iranian Diaspora
Bibliography
Index
About the Editors
