| Description |
Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iranians migrated to the United States in substantial numbers. Ever since this large-scale migration to the United States, first-generation Iranian immigrants have struggled to adapt to every-day life in America while retaining their culture and identities. How this process has played out varies depending on the diversity and Iranian population of where they reside. Iranian immigrants who moved to Los Angeles, the second largest urban center in the United States, have retained their culture mostly through language preservation. The second-generation Iranians’ cultural retention varies but they retain culture, nonetheless, in order to strengthen family ties. The first-generation Iranian immigrants that reside in a medium-sized city, such as Salt Lake City, have looked to a wider range of cultural practices that retain their culture and identity. The second-generation Iranians that reside in Salt Lake City take cultural retention into their own hands by pursuing cultural practices and education for themselves. Both groups of Iranian immigrants have experienced identity conflict, which has resulted in a feeling of “homelessness†and non-belonging. Both cities of Iranians will be compared, as this thesis will explore the differences and similarities between the two. Weaved throughout this narrative of adaptation and cultural retention is the important role historical memory and pride â€" by way of Iranian nationalism â€" play. |
