They immigrated to America from Iran in 1979, in the midst of the Iranian revolution, and express their gratitude for the freedom and benefits that life in America has given them. In about 100 years, most of the population will probably be caramel-colored like Rebecca because of interracial marriage.” I grew to love the traditional ceremonies and customs we attended and the rich meals my family prepared together before sitting down to eat and reminisce about life in Iran.
Khomeini's policies centered on removing King Reza Shah, his dynasty, and the Shah's liberal, westernized policies. All individuals highlighted storytelling as a thread across generations and geographic locations. All study participants currently live in Los Angeles, where a large Persian-Jewish population currently resides in the San Fernando Valley.
Given that Los Angeles has the largest Iranian population outside of Iran, much of the city reflects aspects of the "home country". The city of Westwood is an affluent neighborhood west of Downtown Los Angeles, just 20 minutes away from the Pacific Ocean. For each of the participants I interviewed, Persian culture repeatedly played an integral role in their interactions with themselves, their families, and the places in which they make sense.
My Mom and I
My mother immediately grabbed my arm and walked the two of us out of the restaurant, while my brother stayed at the table with my father. Iranian revolutionary migrants recall experiences and events from the past through storytelling, conversations and communal events. To understand the personal and communal implications of the revolution, I spoke with three revolutionary migrants, all living in Los Angeles.
Abner is a man in his late sixties who, unlike Lily and Donya, lived through much of the revolution as an adult. The way Donya and Lily lived through the event is very different from Abner's experience, being a Muslim and suffering in the midst of the regime. Despite moving from Iran forty years ago, Abner's experience of the revolution will always be linked to his personal narrative.
Although the experiences of the Revolution migrants differed from one another, each suffered the loss of their homeland and collective identity, binding them together through memory. Hałas establishes why these three migrants, and individuals of the Persian diaspora in general, have joined together after displacement. Donya's experience was different from Abner's and Lily's because of the direct aggression directed at her and her family.
These rituals and objects are free from the trauma caused by exile because of the way they are now taking root in the new. In many ways, a sense of nostalgia for the past enabled the Revolution's migrants to cope with the lingering trauma of their uprooting. The revolutionary Iran of the past and the recovery of cultural identity in the present.
Although Abner was old enough to experience the Revolution as an adult, he still felt as if he had little freedom under the rule of the militaristic regime. Traumatic memories stemming from experiencing the Revolution and moving to America can lead an individual, like Abner, to distance himself from the culture; In doing so, one faces the loss of one's homeland, forced to give meaning to the process of assimilation. Therefore, her feelings towards her culture and her memories of the past, while not traumatic, are filled with sadness.
All three individuals navigated limitations, cross-pollination, and positive transnationalism through their relationships with their American-born children. She replied that “it is very important [to share culture, rituals and customs with my children] due to the fact that they have never been to Iran.
Superstitions
I pressed hard on every other name and the shell was as hard as steel. None of the women in the circle seemed to question the ritual or the outcome. Assman and Czaplicka's account of the intimate memory that exists within a shared identity links Laudan—individually—to the effects of diaspora.
In many ways, however, the three themes are intertwined because of the way their parents' fond memories of the past are positive in relation to the instability of the revolution. While all the children noted moments of fear or anxiety in their parents' stories, Ashley spoke openly and explicitly about the trauma her mother faced. All the participants found engaging in culture to some extent as necessary for their identity.
Instead, we are forced to piece together pieces of the stories we heard from our parents to navigate and reclaim our hybridized identities, all the while anchored in nostalgia. As described in their interviews, all the revolutionary migrants to some extent dissociated themselves from their Persian identity. On the other hand, Iranians had to consciously distance themselves from the Western biased and ignorant views of the East.
One obstacle, as Donya showed, is the family's desire to preserve their native culture. Although they have distanced themselves to some extent from Persian culture, Donya still feels drawn to her national identity because of the family, communal environment that nurtured her. Mastaneh's portrayal of the United States reflects what most participants answered when asked about the global West.
All participants grappled with such limitations and pointed to the cultural breakdown, generational ties and memories of the past that form the lens through which they see themselves and the global world. Although family and community gatherings are essential to an individual's sense of self, I noticed the ways in which their identities are dually constructed through the eyes. Donya, Abner and Lily admitted to using the word "Persian" when they moved to America because of the connotation of "Iranian".
The way they instilled in me the meaning of knowing each of the Persian holidays and the rituals that go with them. What remains are the consequences of the 1979 revolution and the places we have since inhabited, grown into and made ours.
Sorry, I Seem to Have Displaced My Identity
How to get from space to place in a fairly short time.” Senses of Place, ed. When you think back to your childhood/life in Iran, what types of memories do you like most? How important was it for you to share your culture, traditions and rituals with your children?
How much of your childhood/life in Iran have you chosen to share with your children. What types of stories have your parents shared with you about their life in Iran.
