Hamilton Books
Pages: 206
•
Trim: 6⅛ x 9
978-0-7618-7170-5 • Paperback • June 2020 • $43.99 • (£35.00)
Ziba Shirazi is a poet, singer, songwriter and storyteller best known for her poignant songs and storytelling through poetry. Shirazi created the ongoing project of Story & Song, a lyrical storytelling series of performances, set to live music with video projections featuring stories of Iranian diaspora experiences.
Kamran Afary is assistant professor of communication studies at California State University Los Angeles and a registered drama therapist (RDT). He is the author of Performance and Activism: Grassroots Discourse after the Los Angeles Rebellion of 1992.
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
Starting with a deceptively simple question, 'When and why did you leave Iran?' Ziba Shirazi and Kamran Afary have uncovered a trove of compelling, heartbreaking, loving, and funny stories that belie the western stereotypes of Iranian diaspora and their experience. This compelling work of Shirazi and Afary goes beyond the academic, esoteric, sanitized investigation of culture, migration, and global conflicts to examine the lived experiences of the sojourners’ struggles, triumphs and rebirths authentically by using the Persian cultural bedrock-medium of poetry and storytelling. Iranian Diaspora Identities brings intercultural communication, diaspora studies, immigration research and cultural studies theory alive, providing scholars, students, and instructors a wealth of material to consider, examine, discuss, and explore.
— Nancy Grass, Santa Monica College
A unique collection of engaging and moving migration stories of diverse groups of Iranians to the United States after the Islamic revolution of 1979. Shirazi and Afary provide an informative introduction to the revolution and its subsequent social-political conditions that led many to leave the country. The authors offer an in-depth analysis of the themes of migration and the processes of acculturation and identity transformation that help the reader gain a better understanding of the experiences and challenges of Iranian diaspora in the United States. An important work of oral history and unforgettable stories.
— Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa, Columbia College Chicago