Iran, America and Iranian American Community in Firoozeh Jazayeri Dumas’ Funny in Farsi

  • Zohreh Ramin Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Tehran, Tehran
Keywords: Postcolonial identity, demonization, hybridity, post 9/11

Abstract

Post 9/11 the United States of America concerns the reconstruction of already demonized identities of Arabs and Middle-eastern cultures. Postcolonial works reside in their rendering a tragic or serious image of Middle Easterners to bring the Western (American) audience into sympathizing with the Middle Eastern ethnicities. Could it be the case that a fundamentally humorous (not derogatory) depiction might contribute to easing such cultural tensions? Firoozeh Jazayeri Dumas’ works stand out as critically acclaimed and successful works familiarizing the American audience with the more humane, likeable, sweet and funny aspects of the Iranians and Iranian culture, and the hardships of being an Iranian immigrant and becoming a hybrid individual. This article explores the already-hybridized self and psyche of Firoozeh as an Iranian American. She writes about her mother land and her residence country and comparing the way she has written about them can help readers understand how one can make peace between different parts of her identity.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Axis of Evil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = pCBQzCD5QMU .

Bahmani, B. (2004). The Iranian: Persian or Iranian? http://iranian.com/BruceBahmani/2004/May/Debate/index.html

Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture. London: Routledge.

Davaran, F. (2010). Continuity in Iranian identity: Resilience of a cultural heritage. London: Rout-ledge.

Demographics & Statistics. http://www.paaia.org/ CMS/demographics--statistics.aspx

Domke, D. S. (2004). God Willing? Political fundamentalism in the White House, the "war on terror," and the echoing press. London: Pluto.

Dumas, F. J. (2008). Funny in Farsi: A memoir of growing up Iranian in America. New York: Random House.

Eduljee, K. E. Iranian and Persia, Are they the same? http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/iranpersia/

Hakimzadeh, S., & Dickon, D. Spotlight on the Iranian foreign-born. http://www.migrationpolicy. org/article/spotlight-iranian-foreign-born

Mcintoch, P. Iranian-Americans reported among most highly educated in the U.S. http://www. peyvand.com.

Opinion Survey of Iranian Americans 2008. http:// www.paaia.org/CMS/2008-national-survey-.aspx

Opinion Survey of Iranian Americans 2009. http:// www.paaia.org/CMS/2009-national-survey-.aspx

Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Ethnicities: Children of immigrants in America. Berkeley: University of California.

Tyson, L. (1999). Critical theory today: A user-friendly guide. New York: Garland Pub.
Published
2015-01-01
How to Cite
Ramin, Z. (2015). Iran, America and Iranian American Community in Firoozeh Jazayeri Dumas’ Funny in Farsi. K@ta: A Biannual Publication on the Study of Languange and Literature, 16(2), 101-108. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.16.2.101-108