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Cyrus Amiri

Cyrus Amiri

Academic rank: Associate Professor
ORCID:
Education: PhD.
ScopusId: 4564457
Faculty: Faculty of Language and Literature
Address: English Department / Faculty of Forign Languages and Literatures / Sanandaj 66177-15175 / Iran.
Phone:

Research

Title
Liminal Identity in Diasporic Iranian Narratives: The Case of Firoozeh Dumas and Elizabeth Eslami
Type
Thesis
Keywords
Homi K. Bhabha, identity, hybridity, mimicry, third space, Iranian immigrants, Firoozeh Dumas, Elizabeth Eslami
Year
2016
Researchers Naser Dowlatyari(Student)، Cyrus Amiri(PrimaryAdvisor)، Zakarya Bezdoode(Advisor)

Abstract

The present thesis attempts to read Firoozeh Dumas’ Funny in Farsi (2003) and Elizabeth Eslami’s Bone Worship (2010) in terms of Homi K. Bhabha’s concepts of hybridity, mimicry, and third space. In recent years, a number of Iranian immigrants have tried their hand at writing memoirs which are highly reflective of their hybrid identities. Immigrants carry with them a set of cultural customs to the new country where it has its own specific culture. These two different cultures constantly intervene the acts of immigrants and leave them with a hybrid identity. Meanwhile, immigrants have to adjust themselves to the host country and mimic the behavior codes of that country. As a result, they will always be living in an in-between space, namely third space, between these two spaces. In other words, they belong to neither the original nor the host country, but to both of them. In their memoirs, these Iranian immigrants describe their life experiences and the difficulties they are facing in the U.S. A considerable part of these memoirs is about Iran and the important aspects of Persian culture such as language, family, education, hospitality, and Nowruz. However, these writers usually use the English language as their medium, which means they have successfully assimilated into the American culture. Firoozeh Dumas’ Funny in Farsi (2003) and Elizabeth Eslami’sBone Worship (2010), the study reveals, abound with characters of different generations of Iranian immigrants who have been able not only to incorporate the American culture but also remain, in some ways, connected with their original Persian culture.