For those in the Iranian diaspora, 9/11 seemed to compound our pre-existing trauma and our desire to express it…in English. As this issue reflects, we’ve moved on, in various ways.
Language defines how we view ourselves and the world around us. What happens when your mother tongue changes in ways that change what you are able—and unable—to express?
Many Iranian officials who’ve studied in the United States have done anything but live up to the human rights–respecting reputation of a Western education.
My mother once told me that I was conceived in a hotel room in Beirut. “I still remember. It was off of Hamra,” she said light-heartedly, after we had enjoyed dinner and some wine.