Mediums of Storytelling: Narratives of 20th Century Iranian Jews (updated)

The Iranian revolution (1979) was a milestone in the history of Iranian Jews, since for some, it separated them from their 2700-year-old heritage and homeland, and for others, it changed their lives dramatically. The purpose of this panel is to examine, through the mediums of cinema narration and oral history, the changes this minority experienced, 1) in different spheres: the representative layer and the realistic one: their lives in and outside of Iran; and 2) during different times: the transition between monarchy and Islamic Republic. In the period under evaluation, the Iranian government underwent significant transformations, both in its policies and even in Iran’s regional standing. Therefore, the goal of this panel is to present the many multi-faceted sources upon which the history of Iranian Jews can be understood. The panel attempts to problematize the discourse regarding the Iranian Jews and to present different narratives from several angles. (Panel convenor Ms. Orly Rahimiyan, Ben Gurion University)

Chair
name: 
Dr. Nahid Pirnazar
Institutional Affiliation : 
UCLA
Academic Bio: 
Dr. Nahid Pirnazar is a lecturer of Iranian Studies at UCLA, teaching the History of Iranian Jews and Judeo-Persian Literature. She received her Ph.D. from UCLA in 2004, in Iranian Studies with an emphasis on Judeo-Persian literature. She has two M.A. degrees, one in 1999 from UCLA in Iranian Studies and the other from Tehran University in English as a Second Language in 1975. In addition, since 1997 to the present time she has been teaching at UCLA, in subjects which include the Persian language and literature from introductory to advanced levels. Dr. Nahid Pirnazar is the founder and president of The House of Judeo-Persian Manuscripts, an academic organization which collects, preserves, transliterates and publishes Judeo-Persian manuscripts. She is also a contributor to the Brill Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World as well as Encyclopedia Iranica. Dr. Nahid Pirnazar has served on the Executive Board of Habib Levy Cultural & Educational Foundation, since 1997, as its Director of Academics, Research & Publications. Her research articles on different aspects of Judeo-Persian literature and the culture and national Identity of Iranian Jews have been reflected in academic publications such as Irano-Judaica, Iranshenasi and Rhavard. She is also a contributor to the Brill Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World as well as Encyclopedia Iranica.
Discussant
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Institutional Affiliation : 
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Academic Bio : 
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First Presenter
Name: 
Ms. Wendy Wolfe Fine
Institutional Affiliation : 
Brandeis University (alumna), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (current employer)
Academic Bio : 
Wendy Wolfe Fine is a documentary filmmaker residing in the Greater Boston Area. She has a filmmaking certificate from the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University, an MA from Brandeis University in Jewish Communal Service and a BA from McGill University in Jewish Studies. For over twenty years, she has been documenting stories about world Jewry both in writing and film. She has investigated the situation of the Jews of the former Soviet Union around Glasnost in the late 80s, Jewish life in East Asia, modern Orthodox Jewry as an option for professional women, and the current emigration of the Falas Mura of Ethiopia to Israel.
Concise Paper Title : 
Addressing the Jewish Exodus from Iran in the 70s and 80s through the Medium of Film
Paper Abstract (maximum of 400 words) : 
As a result of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Jewish community, with a rich cultural and religious heritage spanning 2700 years, has dwindled from 100,000 to 20,000. Personal stories of the exodus from Iran in the 70s and 80s are rich with uncertainty, pain, suffering, emotion, daring and intrigue. This paper analyzes the production of the film titled, “The Pearl that Slipped Its Shell: Memoirs of Jewish Iran,” which is a compilation of oral histories from this period combined with images that advance the stories being told. To date, over 10 oral histories have been documented in addition to over 5 interviews with scholars on Iranian Jewish history. Based on my personal experience as producer interviewing emigrants to the United States, this paper describes the process and challenges of documenting these stories=2 0for film. The paper will show that, in part, these challenges are linked to the trauma and turmoil experienced by immigrants during this period and to the current political climate in Iran and precariousness of the situation of Jews remaining in Iran. The process of making this film elucidates further our understanding of this period in Iranian Jewish history and the mindset of Iranian Jewish immigrants in the United States.
Second Presenter
Name: 
Dr. Jaleh Pirnazar
Institutional Affiliation : 
University of California, Berkeley
Academic Bio : 
Dr. Jaleh Pirnazar teaches Persian language and literature and Iranian Cinema at the University of California in Berkeley where she has taught for more than 25 years. She writes articles in Persian and English on topics related to literary criticism, modern Persian literature, Iranian cinema, and Iranian Jewish history and culture.
Concise Paper Title : 
Memoirs and Novels by Iranian Jewish Women: New Voices
Paper Abstract (maximum of 400 words) : 
For centuries Jews have lived in Iran with a dual consciousness of themselves as Jews and as Iranians. Historically, however, with the exception of the 17-18 century chronicles written in Persian using Hebrew script, they wrote rarely of themselves prior to mid-twentieth century. By then, using the medium of journalism, the younger generation wrote for and about their minority communities in editorials, letters and articles for Persian Jewish newspapers. None of these writings were penned by Iranian Jewish women. Their presence on the literary landscape and their turn to write about their tales only came a couple of decades after the Islamic revolution, by the turn of the century, and following their experience of migration. In recent years we witness an outpouring of written expressions by these women in the Diaspora in the forms of memoirs and novels. This paper examines these writings for their themes, styles, sense for history, expressions of self awareness and significant diversities both in lifestyles of their writers, and in the self awareness of these women of themselves as Jews, Iranians, Americans, women, and storytellers. It will further discuss how these writings stand in contrast to those of Iranian Jews a generation or two before them, and how they belong to and differ from the larger explosion of post revolutionary literary writings by women=2 0both in Iran and abroad."
Thid Presenter
Name: 
Ms. Farideh Dayanim Goldin
Institutional Affiliation : 
Old Dominion University
Academic Bio : 
Farideh Goldin is the author of Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman. She studied English literature at Pahlavi University in Shiraz. She later transferred to Old Dominion University, where she received her graduate degrees in Humanities, Women’s Studies, and Creative writing. In addition to her ongoing research on Iranian women writers, she teaches literature at Old Dominion University and is working on a second memoir.
Concise Paper Title : 
Love and Marriage among Middle Class Iranian Jewish Women in Southern California
Paper Abstract (maximum of 400 words) : 
As Iran celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution this winter, the largest concentration of its ancient Jewry has shifted from Iran to the Los Angeles area. After three decades, however, the community still struggles to balance its cultural rules of dating, marriage, and divorce for women with the norms and standards of their adopted country. This research is based upon ongoing interviews with Iranian Jewish women during the last two decades. Â I explore young Iranian Jewish women's hopes and dreams in the United States as they attempt to reconcile American culture and Iranian family loyalty.
Fourth Presenter
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Academic Bio : 
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Concise Paper Title : 
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