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Expatriate Reconstructions of Persian Identity: Iran as the Cradle of Civilization
Abstract
A review of Iran and America: Rekindling a Love Lost by Badi Badiozamani and Ghazal Badiozamani (Center for East-West, 2006 caused me to revisit the question of how Iranians living in the United States, non-specialists in the fields of archaeology, linguistics, history, etc. represent the heritage of their native land. A pattern illustrating the use of scholarship on Iran emerges that many people would call reductive and many would call chauvinist. The presentation analyzes the reasons behind such motivated uses of scholarship. Are they a salve for a sense of inferiority in an Iranophobic America?
Discipline
Anthropology
Geographic Area
Iran
Sub Area
Identity/Representation