UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Mosaics of Identity: Reading Muslim Women’s Memoirs from Across the Diaspora A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature by Leila Pazargadi 2012 © Copyright by Leila Pazargadi 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Mosaics of Identity: Reading Muslim Women’s Memoirs from Across the Diaspora by Leila Pazargadi Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor Nasrin Rahimieh, Co-chair Professor Jenny Sharpe, Co-chair Mosaics of Identity: Reading Muslim Women's Memoirs From Across the Diaspora addresses Muslim women’s life writing in transit since 9/11. This project follows the memoir boom fueled by many Middle Eastern women writers publishing in the U.S., Australia and Europe. By studying contemporary Arab and Iranian women’s memoirs and autobiofictional works, this project investigates the expression of life writers who are trying to influence their local and global communities through the form of the confessional. This research project focuses on modes of self-representation in Middle Eastern women’s personal narratives, paying careful attention to the narrative strategies they use to negotiate art and meaning within memoir. ii The first chapter, entitled, “True Lies: Reviving Orientalism in Honor-Killing Hoaxes” argues that the two so-called “honor killing” memoirs, Forbidden Love and Burned Alive, were successfully believed as genuine memoirs for over two years, despite the fact that they were hoaxes, because of the political post-9/11 climate resurrecting Orientalist attitudes about the Middle East. These sensationalized works used Orientalist tropes to become best-selling memoirs and in doing so, they strike many questions about how their deception was successful. Although Muslim women’s memoirs can serve as a forum for creating revisionist histories through female life stories, they also function as narratives written, published and marketed with the intentionality of producing works that perform the native informant’s narrative. This chapter frames my exploration of Muslim women’s memoirs in my other three chapters, which explore counter- narratives that defy these stereotypes constructed by dominant Euro-American literatures. The second chapter, “Comedic Masks, Tragic Faces: Humor, Racial Passing, and Identity Fragmentation in the Memoirs of Firoozeh Dumas and Marjane Satrapi,” argues that the use of humor and satire are formal devices in which Iranian immigrant women use to negotiate the precarious position of the immigrant liminal self. More specifically, these writers use humor as a metaphorical mask that allows them to partially conceal what they choose to communicate to their readers. Because this dissertation explores counter-narratives of neo-Orientalist testimonials, it explores the varying narrative devices that disrupt the conventions of memoirs penned by Middle Eastern women writers. In the memoirs of Dumas and Satrapi, the authors incorporate humor to critique Iranian, American and European societies. Chapter Three, entitled, “Mosaics of American Muslims: Reading Islam Across Mohja Kahf’s Poetry and Fiction,” investigates the way Mohja Kahf carves out a space for Muslim Americans, especially for Muslim women, in her semi-fictional works. Though her novel Girl in iii the Tangerine Scarf is a fictional bildungsroman about the life of Syrian American, Khadra Shamy, it bears the semi-autobiographical perspective of the author, incorporating Kahf’s personal experiences as a Syrian Muslim in America. By using fiction, the author is able to delve into sensitive and somewhat taboo issues surrounding her community and discuss American politics, without having to claim testimonial authenticity. In her autobiofiction, she is free to paint a diverse picture of Arab American and Muslim women, without being limited to the genre of memoir. This chapter discusses both her poetry and fiction to highlight shared themes resisting the essentialization of Muslim women as backward and silent. Her recuperation of veiling is a common motif that runs throughout both works, and it is significant since Kahf attempts to demonstrate the positive and personal expressions of veiling to American audiences. My fourth and final chapter, “Dislocations of Self: Unfixing Identity in Rabih Alameddine’s I, The Divine” explores the connection between the autobiographical voice and the narrative structure of a fictional autobiography presented as a series of first chapters. The author creates a fictional memoir from the perspective of a Lebanese American woman, Sarah Nour El- Din, who struggles to write her life story in a series of first chapters. Alameddine creates the anti-memoir, which refuses to limit itself to chronology, truth and conventional life-storytelling. Because every chapter begins as Chapter One, Alameddine draws attention to the difficulty of succinctly and chronologically writing one’s life story in a memoir, while also engaging the varying voices of the autobiographical “I” to dismantle the notion of a unified self. By creating a fictional memoir, Alameddine mocks the form of writing so popular amongst contemporary Arab American women writers, and he resists rendering his protagonist as a transparent native informant and cultural guide for American readers. iv The dissertation of Leila Pazargadi is approved. Sondra Hale Nouri Gana Nasrin Rahimieh, Committee Co-chair Jenny Sharpe, Committee Co-chair University of California, Los Angeles 2012 v DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated – in loving memory – to my father, Dr. Shayan Pazargadi, and – in living celebration – to my grandmother, Pourandokht Moayeri, and my aunt, Golrokh Moayeri, whose encouragement and support have helped shape this text. Mosaics of Identity especially stands as a testament to the strength and courage of my mother, Fatemeh Moayeri, whose determination and perseverance continue to inspire me everyday. She is a strong Iranian shirzan, a lioness whose example speaks to the capabilities of women. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION…………………………………………………………ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………..……....viii VITA…………………………………………………………………………………………..…..x INTRODUCTION: Perceptions of Reality in Muslim Women’s Memoirs Across the Diaspora…………………………………………………………………………….……………..1 CHAPTER I: True Lies: Reviving Orientalism in “Honor-Killing” Memoirs Hoaxes.…………33 CHAPTER II: Comedic Masks, Tragic Faces: Humor, Racial Passing, and Identity Fragmentation in the Memoirs of Firoozeh Dumas and Marjane Satrapi…………………….....91 CHAPTER III: Mosaics of American Muslims: Reading Islam Across Mohja Kahf’s Poetry and Fiction………………………………….…………………………………….…..…159 CHAPTER IV: Dislocations of Self: Unfixing Identity in Rabih Alameddine’s I, The Divine……..…….………………………….………………………………………….…204 WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………………………..244 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have come into fruition without careful guidance from my incredible dissertation committee. To Dr. Sondra Hale, Dr. Nouri Gana, Dr. Nasrin Rahimieh and Dr. Jenny Sharpe, I am grateful for their endless assistance, inspiration and direction. In particular, I am thankful to Dr. Nasrin Rahimieh for guiding me through the wonderful world of contemporary Persian literature and for always cheering me on. To Dr. Jenny Sharpe, I am especially indebted for her dedication to this project. She has read countless drafts and made numerous revisions, without which my scholarship would not have matured. Her mentorship and guidance have been invaluable and life changing. Likewise, I am appreciative of the support I received from the Comparative Literature Department and its chair, Dr. Efrain Kristal. Without Dr. Kristal’s enthusiasm for my scholarship and the department’s continued financial support, I simply could not have completed this project. I am honored by the Department of Comparative Literature and the Graduate Division’s Dissertation Year Fellowship, without which, my scholarship could not have flourished. To their faith in my project, I am eternally indebted. Both the Center for the Study of Women at U.C.L.A. and the Constance Coiner Graduate Fellowship have generously supported my research and travels. To Virginia Coiner Classick, I am grateful to have been chosen to honor her sister Dr. Constance Coiner and her commitment to engaging feminist issues. I am also incredibly honored by the generous support from Dr. Mina Houtan and The Houtan Foundation’s Scholarship for Iranian graduate students, which enabled me to continue my research. Furthermore, to my Iranian colleagues, I am continually impressed by their determination to break through stereotypes and push for a better understanding of Iran. Khanoum Latifeh Hagigi has been incredibly inspiring and to her instruction of Persian language and literature, I am eternally grateful. U.C.L.A. has been incredible in providing me with countless resources and programs for exploring my scholarship. The Academic Advancement Program at U.C.L.A. has been an inspirational source for financially supporting me and putting me in touch with a unique group of people dedicated to fostering diversity initiatives at Vrije University in Amsterdam and at California State Long Beach. By my students at A.A.P., U.C.L.A., V.U., Occidental College and Cal State Long Beach, I am awed by their perseverance and creativity. They have patiently allowed me to teach and work through the material of this