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Iranian Diaspora Identities

Stories and Songs

Ziba Shirazi and Kamran Afary - Contributions by Ziba Shirazi; Fariba Boghraty; Farrokh Boghraty; Massy Alavi; Nasrin Almasi; Shahla; Shahrzad Safinya; Shervin; Valentina Nazaretian; Mahvash Dareshi Gheytanchi Levi; Homayoun Houshiarnejad; Iran; Manijeh Teymouri; Modjgan Rashtian; Sorour Nayeri; Vida Ghahremani and Zohreh

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.
  • Details
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  • Author
  • Author
  • TOC
  • TOC
  • Reviews
  • Reviews
Hamilton Books
Pages: 206 • Trim: 6⅛ x 9
978-0-7618-7170-5 • Paperback • June 2020 • $43.99 • (£35.00)
Subjects: Social Science / Emigration & Immigration, Drama / Middle Eastern, Literary Collections / Middle Eastern, History / Middle East / Iran
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


Iranian Diaspora Identities

Stories and Songs

Cover Image
Paperback
Summary
Summary
  • 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.
Details
Details
  • Hamilton Books
    Pages: 206 • Trim: 6⅛ x 9
    978-0-7618-7170-5 • Paperback • June 2020 • $43.99 • (£35.00)
    Subjects: Social Science / Emigration & Immigration, Drama / Middle Eastern, Literary Collections / Middle Eastern, History / Middle East / Iran
Author
Author
  • 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.
Table of Contents
Table of 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

Reviews
Reviews
  • 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


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