In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Zia Ashraf Nasr The reification of the past is a way for some exiles to forget the present. The oldest of my interviewees, whose remarkable memory and narrative powers filled days of tapes with vivid and detailed stories of childhood and maturity in Iran, had only this to say about life in exile. Now I am in this country. When I was here in the 1950s I tried to build a little Iran around me, but I don’t do that now. Because now I can’t think of the present Iran. I only think of the old Iran and hope that Iran will return to the way it was—a place where we could all work toward something. The present Iran is not the country I love. I don’t see the present Iran as my own. Yes, I feel in exile from the new Iran, from the old Iran, and from America. We who have a strong love for our country really suffer from this loss. Sometimes I sit and think and ask myself again and again—who am I? Where am I from? I don’t see myself as part of this nation. And I don’t like the present Iran. I am a person without a country. ...

Share