Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Autobiography--Women authors; Iranian American authors; Moaveni, Azadeh, --1976---Lipstick jihad; Dumas, Firoozeh--Funny in Farsi; Asayesh, Gelareh--Saffron sky; Academic theses;
Abstract
This study analyzes Azadeh Moaveni's Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran, Firoozeh Dumas's Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America, and Gelareh Asayesh's Saffron Sky: A Life Between Iran and America all examined within, against, and through the lens of poststructuralist feminism. Emphasis is placed on issues of hybridity and naming in a dual-cultured, dual-languaged world. Moaveni, Dumas, and Asayesh begin the task of writing a memoir in order to better understand themselves and to attempt to create a solid identity based on both Iran and America. By examining issues of language and naming along with the insider/outsider dichotomy of living between Iran and the United States it is clear that their identities are not fixed, but rather they are fluid and ever changing. Through their journey with language, Moaveni, Dumas, and Asayesh are able to better understand that their struggle to "find themselves" is a universal struggle that is never ending. We all need to feel validated and seen by others as authentic and "real" versions of ourselves. By writing an autobiographical work, many feel that they will be able to cement their identity in the permanence of literature. While we cannot find true "oneness" within ourselves, this does not mean that the struggle to define ourselves as fragmented beings becomes any less difficult. The strict binary between Iran and America exacerbate Moaveni, Dumas and Asayesh's feelings of a lack of unity and cohesion in themselves. The need to fully understand ourselves and to, in turn, have others fully understand us creates an anxiety that cannot be lessened, even with the publication of our memoirs.
Year of Submission
2009
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of English Language and Literature
First Advisor
Julie Husband
Second Advisor
Susan Hill
Third Advisor
Reza Lahroodi
Date Original
2009
Object Description
1 PDF file (94 leaves)
Copyright
©2009 Chelsea Ann Thiebaut DeLucenay
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
DeLucenay, Chelsea Ann Thiebaut, "Iranian American Women Writing Their Lives: Poststructuralist Analysis of Lipstick Jihad, Funny in Farsi and Saffron Sky" (2009). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2470.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2470
Comments
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