Photographer and researcher Kelley's more than 150 striking photographs of Iranians in Los Angeles make a fascinating study on their own. They are amplified by interviews with Iranians of varied circumstances and by essays from different authors that provide historical, political, and cultural background. The text outlines the political and social changes in Iran that led to emigration. Ethnic and religious diversity among Iranians is portrayed in detail, both in Iran and in Los Angeles. Family and social life, entertainment, and ethnic media are also described. This volume should stand as a model for future studies of immigrant groups because of the wealth of material it provides on the cultural life of Iranians in Los Angeles. Strongly recommended for collections on immigrant groups and on the Middle East.
- Wendy Knickerbocker, Rhode Island Coll. Lib., Providence
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Following Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, hundreds of thousands of Iranians fled their homeland. For a great number, Los Angeles was their destination, and today more Iranians live there than anywhere else in the world outside of Iran.
This compelling collection of photographs, essays, and interviews explores that exodus from Iran and the Iranian presence in Southern California. While capturing the remarkable diversity of this immigrant community, Irangeles also confronts the sprawling metropolis that is increasingly influenced by its large ethnic and immigrant populations. Iranians, too, are inexorably linked to the demographic changes in California--changes that raise questions of assimilation and cultural survival--and that will see minority populations become the majority in the next century.
Integrating visual, textual, and oral sources, this book explicates and humanizes the Iranian experience for scholars and general readers alike. We come to know people from a broad range of occupations and income levels, political persuasions, and religious faiths. Supporters of the deposed Pahlavi regime and staunch followers of Khomeini are here, along with other Muslims, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Baha'is. We hear the voices of women--those who veil themselves in public and those who have adopted Western cultural practices--and learn how both old and new gender roles pressure Iranian women and men. Social relations among Iranian adolescents and the conflicts with their elders are also illuminated.
Irangeles is a fascinating portrait of a community caught between two cultures. It offers a new perspective on Iran and its people as well as on immigrant communities in general.
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