Carmen Reza

Culture Shock, Trauma, Exile & Nostalgia in Iranian-american Memoirs: Iranian-american Literature Carmen Reza

As many individuals throughout the world, from varying backgrounds move for different reasons, whether it be economic and educational necessity or as a refugee or exile, to many countries of the West, most notably the United States, the phenomenon of culture shock, assimilation, exilic status, and trauma is becoming ever more prevalent in Western societies, a growing interest and necessity of this type of study is becoming ever more important. This book discusses the concepts of exile, trauma, and nostalgia and explains how they all come together to create a sense of culture shock for four influential and quintessential Iranian-American women; women who exemplify, in many cases, the experiences of a number of Iranian exiles. Azar Nafisi, Nahid Rachlin, Tara Bahrampour, and Azadeh Moaveni, despite their different life experiences and ages, all encountered culture shock as it related to male-female relations, Iranian gender norms and issues of sex and sexuality and treatments and views of the female body as it relates to reproduction. With the current state of affairs, it is important to study and understand many of these important issues, especially as it relates to immigration.