Between Nostalgia and Activism: Iranian Australian Poetry and Cinema

Authors

  • Fiona Sumner University of Wollongong

Keywords:

Granaz Moussavi, Roshanak Amrein, Iran, transnational writing, Iranian Australian literature

Abstract

Abstract: This article examines the work of Iranian Australian writers Granaz Moussavi and Roshanak Amrein. Moussavi is best known among English-speakers for her film My Tehran For Sale (2009), an Iranian-Australian co-production, and among Persian-speakers for her poetry. Amrein is known for her poetic representations of the experiences of Baha’i refugees in and from Iran, especially her translated volume One Million Flights (2010). In this article I focus on the different transnational and formal contexts in which Moussavi and Amrein write, as well as the different ways their texts represent notions of Iran and Australia. I argue that My Tehran For Sale and One Million Flights, especially when read in juxtaposition, serve to reposition “Australia”, “Iran” and related narratives around “freedom” and “fairness”. Keywords: Granaz Moussavi; Roshanak Amrein; Iran; transnational writing; Iranian Australian literature

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Published

2012-10-10

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2012): Transnational Imaginaries: Reading Asian Australian Writing

Section

Articles

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