Culture & Identity Among The
Persian Community
Hello
everyone, I will be blogging about how life for a typical Persian living in the
United States has drastically changed before and after the Iranian Revolution.
As
a Persian Armenian, I would like to know how life changed for the first and
second generation immigrants from Iran and how the Iranian Revolution impacted
this transition. The revolution was a turning point in the political regime
from a monarchial rule to a theocratic Islamic republic. Both my parents were
born in Tehran, Iran and left before the revolution.
I
plan on interviewing both my parents to understand the differences between
gender roles back home. I will also talk to my grandparents from my mother’s
side who witnessed the horrendous events that took place during the Iranian
Revolution of 1979. Leaving behind the memories of the past, my family moved to
the states and lived their life without any previous restrictions. However,
many of the cultural practices they were accustomed to back home are still
imminent to this day. One of the most important cultural aspects that I notice
from my parents is when they speak Farsi with one another.
When
my parents don’t want anyone to understand what they’re talking about, they
always speak in Farsi. Over the years, I came to realize when they choose to
talk Farsi, the setting always consists of having a cup of fine Persian tea, specifically
earl grey. Another common trend I notice from my family members is the
separation of the sexes during big events. Men will be on one side playing
backgammon, while the women are in the kitchen. This is not always the case,
but back home this was usually how the setting took place.
One
of my favorite aspects of Persian culture is Persian food. There are a variety
of dishes that we prepare during special occasions for family gatherings, grand
celebrations, weddings, and birthdays. A popular Persian dish that I like a lot
and is common in Iran and in the U.S. is called Ghormeh Sabzi—a Persian herb
stew. But my all time favorite is Tah-dig—rice with a crusty layer seasoned
with spices.
Among
Persians, Persian literature is important because it teaches many important
disciplines and morals. Many popular poems and art, such as calligraphy are
preserved because Persians value their history. As a social aspect of Persian
culture, many young adults will spend their late afternoons at local hookah
bars, but majority of the people allowed are men. I myself smoke hookah and
this popular trend is not only practiced back home but in the states as well.
As
I have mentioned throughout this blog, Persian culture is widespread in the
United States—encompassing all aspects such as religion, art, music, and
history. Thus, I would like to discover if Persian identity is still present in
the United States. I also want to know how life has changed for Persian
immigrants “refugees”. The goal of my blog is to establish that Persians in the
United States have a lot to offer for our society. I want to help get rid of
the notion that Persians are not a group of people associated with terrorists
and others who are constantly looking for ways to hurt and bring down our
country, but instead are a part of the melting pot of the United States.
~Profile A
Blog~
Finding
a profile blog that is associated with Persian culture was not as difficult as
it seemed. The name of the blog I discovered is “My Persian Corner” and is
written by Pontia, who is an Iranian American. Born and raised in the United
States, she grew up with Persian language and culture inside the house and
American language and culture outside. If I were to describe this blog in a few
words, it would be something along these lines, “Everything you want to know
about Persian culture, language, and travel”. The intent of this blog was to
give readers an insight into a misunderstood country through its history, food,
culture, travel, traditions, and random anecdotes. Reading her blog posts gave
a sense of strong national ethnic identity. Her relation to my field is strong
because she is a Persian language teacher offering Farsi lessons. She says “being
the language teacher that I am, I can’t help but throw in some useful phrases
along the way so you can impress your Iranian friends”. I can see that she is
really passionate about her culture.
As
a blogger, she writes frequently to enrich readers about the culture that
remains hidden to the world and describes the country of Iran as if it were
like a black hole and people didn’t know anything about Iran’s history.
Although she didn’t appear on the technorati website to assess the popularity
of her blog site, two interesting blogs she posted were “Zoroastrians In The Neighborhood
of Yazd” and the “Zoroastrian Calendar”. I believe her religious
background is Zoroastrian but never explicitly mentions so that she doesn’t
narrow her scope of readers. For those who don’t know what Zoroastrianism is,
it is an ancient Iranian religion, filled with philosophical principles and ideologies.
Of the many blog pages that I have seen that relate to my work, Pontia by far
captures all of the aspects of Iranian culture. The reason I say this is
because my work is more about the history behind Iranian’s dynasty and how
politics and religion are always clashing together. Skimming through her
content on her blog page, which is a variety of academic and scholarly
material, I am more convinced that her blogs are useful resources for future
blog posts that pertain to Iranian culture. Especially, when she describes religion
and the various fanatical groups. Controversial yet curious, these are elements
that blog readers are driven by to read other blogger’s posts. Whether Iranian
or American, she delivers a multicultural audience that is fascinated by her
subject matter, like Middle Eastern Norms. In the blogging world, her followers
are students that are American born but have roots to Iranian culture. Thus, I
find this beneficial in feeding my work because I can have a larger community
of Iranian Americans giving me different insights on what it is to be Iranian.
Finally, I would want to follow the same methods and styles that Pontia uses
such as weekly updates and keeping an organized format by grouping blogs by
subject.
Voice Post
Marg
bar bādemjun, death to eggplants or would you rather have me say, Marg
bar [Amrika]! death to [America]! For a typical Iranian, the
terminology of death can be interchangeably used to express different meanings
that are not interpreted literally. Those who are American reading this blog
don take it offensively. These phrases are just a taste of what Pontia offers
in her blog titled “The Iranian Death Wish”. Her blog uses all sorts of Persian
phrases (death) and makes reference to a comedy called Shahgoosh. Instead, her
reference to the comedy is to show that these phrases are understood as dramatically
funny and sarcastic. Likewise, Pontia’s tone of voice can be heard throughout
her blog that captures American pop culture and humor.
Phrases
such as “marg!, death!, boro bemir!, go die!, che margeshe?, what's his death?” all
capture a similar theme which is death. The last phrase she states, “then the
mother phrase of them all came to me: marg bar [Amrika]!, death to [America]!
It seems we Iranians have a death wish worse than Charles Bronson”. In her last
sentence she makes a similarity with Iranian death wish to Charles Bronson’s
Death Wish movie. It’s fascinating that she makes such a comparison to an
American actor, whose movie is titled Death Wish. Her voice suggests that she
is familiar with American pop culture and that she is not one of those FOBs
(Fresh Of The Boat). So back off Americans, now you know she is not an
anti-American hater.
In
another Persian phrase, she states that “ the other day I was feeling
frustrated and muttered under my breath, khabare
margeshun!, the news of their death!, and chuckled upon realizing what I
had said”. The audience once again experiences Pontia’s voice. “Feeling
frustrated and muttered,” she says “the news of their death!” in italics with
an exclamation and yet didn’t realize what she said. This suggests that she
would not repeat the same statement, let alone with the same tone towards a
person. It was only during that moment or situation that she felt she had to
project her voice to release her frustration by using phrases like “khabare margeshun!”
When
discussing phrases that are referenced to death she says “Suddenly all these
phrases related to death started piling up in my head like Jenga”. Then
again she makes a similarity with the game of Jenga. She is trying to come up
with different words that all use death but have different connotations. But we
also note the reference to American pop culture by referencing the game of
Jenga.
However,
the fact that she makes a bold statement, death to America, contradicts
with her relationship to American pop culture. But, she specifically states
that she is not referring to the American people but to the government because
she says “, the way I see it, Iranians don’t view governments as representative
of the people”. Her wording of “the way I see it” implies that she is taking a
neutral stance. Instead, Iranian society views government not representative of
the people. From this wording, we can tell Pontia is not the type of character
that is assertive and quick to make absolute claims.
Going
back to death-related phrases, Pontia says that “ You’d think that being the poetic
creatures that we are, we’d find a more lyrical way of expressing ourselves,
but I guess death is, after all, the ultimate sacrifice. One minute we are
willing to die for you, but get on our bad side, and we will just as soon wish
for your death” In the previous quote, Pontia reveals a sarcastic/ humoristic
side by saying “death is, after all, the ultimate sacrifice” I think what she
is trying to reveal is that Iranians can be poetic but it always ends with
expressions related to death. Death is not taken literally but can be
understood differently in context. As she states, “one minute we are willing to
die for you, but we will just as soon wish for your death”.
In her second blog post titled “The
Things That Don't Translate: Persian Idioms Part 1,” Pontia presents different
Persian idioms. She says, “Iranians speak in poems. Iranians speak in proverbs.
Iranians speak in idioms. It’s no wonder we have so much trouble communicating
with the U.S.” In her last sentence, Pontia’s voice expresses humor because
what Persians say is interpreted differently for another person listening to
the same statement. Lastly, she offers a list of statements and asks readers to
interpret what they mean. “For the Persian-learners, try to guess what on earth
this phrase could possible mean. Answers below, but no cheating ;)” She puts a
smiley face at the end of her sentence to show that maybe cheating is tolerated
because those statements are probably only understood by Persians and no one
else but those that speak Farsi that are familiar with Persian idioms.
Comparing
the two different blog posts that express voice, I definitely see a contrast
between the first blog and second blog. At first her voice is very
serious and then becomes subtle and eventually becomes funny.
