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.

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

Product details

Published Jun 11 2020
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 206
ISBN 9780761871705
Imprint Hamilton Books
Dimensions 230 x 155 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Related Titles

Environment: Staging