M. Blaim & Kenneth A. Loparo 
Constructing Identity in Iranian-American Self-Narrative 

Shaped by the experiences of the Iranian Revolution, Iranian-American autobiographers use this chaotic past to tell their current stories in the United States. Wagenknecht analyzes a wide range of such writing and draws new conclusions about migration, exile, and life between different and often clashing cultures.

Table of Content

Introduction PART I: TROUBLED HERITAGE 1. Explaining Departure: Narratives of Victimicy 2. A Usable Past: Construction of Religion and Alternative Identifications PART II: LANGUAGE, BODY, AND THE IRANIAN-AMERICAN SELF 3. The Interplay of Language and Identity Construction 4. The Iranian-American Body In Between PART III: CULTURE INHERITED/IN FLUX 5. Between Fiction and Fact: Telling the Iranian-American Self 6. Relative Identities: The Iranian-American Self in Its Relation to Others 7. Imagining ‘Home:’ Between Persian Paradise and American Arcadia Conclusion

About the author

Maria Wagenknecht is an Independent Researcher, Germany.