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The Ritual FusionIndividuality, Tradition, and Sensory Memory in Iranian Women’s Islamic Gatherings in Los Angeles

The Ritual FusionIndividuality, Tradition, and Sensory Memory in Iranian Women’s Islamic... This article explores domestic religious practices of Iranian Muslim women in Los Angeles. In the diasporic context, Iranian women’s voluntary engagement in vernacular Islamic practices is often associated with an unreflexive pursuit of religion and lack of agency or with complicity with the Islamic Republic’s conservative brand of Shiism. To examine the complexities of such practices in the United States, this research relies on the ethnography of a monthly domestic gathering in LA that offers a hybrid blend of multiple devotional and social genres. The article demonstrates that the event’s performative and affective characteristics cater to a range of individual framings of the shared ritual and allow for complex and multilayered modes of engaging with the practice of faith. Further, it argues that vernacular Islamic practices in the diaspora are not always tied to individuals’ expression of religious conviction and pursuit of piety. By depicting the material and sensory aspects of the space, the article suggests that such rituals can serve as sites for engaging in a mode of diasporic nostalgia that does not commonly have a place in Iranian communities’ nostalgic narratives of the homeland. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Middle East Women's Studies Duke University Press

The Ritual FusionIndividuality, Tradition, and Sensory Memory in Iranian Women’s Islamic Gatherings in Los Angeles

Rezaei, Afsane
Journal of Middle East Women's Studies , Volume 18 (2) – Jul 1, 2022
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Copyright
Copyright © 2022 by the Association for Middle East Women’s Studies
ISSN
1552-5864
eISSN
1558-9579
DOI
10.1215/15525864-9767856
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article explores domestic religious practices of Iranian Muslim women in Los Angeles. In the diasporic context, Iranian women’s voluntary engagement in vernacular Islamic practices is often associated with an unreflexive pursuit of religion and lack of agency or with complicity with the Islamic Republic’s conservative brand of Shiism. To examine the complexities of such practices in the United States, this research relies on the ethnography of a monthly domestic gathering in LA that offers a hybrid blend of multiple devotional and social genres. The article demonstrates that the event’s performative and affective characteristics cater to a range of individual framings of the shared ritual and allow for complex and multilayered modes of engaging with the practice of faith. Further, it argues that vernacular Islamic practices in the diaspora are not always tied to individuals’ expression of religious conviction and pursuit of piety. By depicting the material and sensory aspects of the space, the article suggests that such rituals can serve as sites for engaging in a mode of diasporic nostalgia that does not commonly have a place in Iranian communities’ nostalgic narratives of the homeland.

Journal

Journal of Middle East Women's Studies – Duke University Press

Published: Jul 1, 2022

References

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    Abu-Lughod, Lila Fox, Richard G.
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    Betteridge, Anne Falk, Nancy. A. Gross, Rita M.
  • Muslim Women and Shrines in Shiraz
    Betteridge, Anne Bowen, Donna Lee Early, Evelyn A.
  • From Mourning to Activism: Sayyedeh Zaynab, Lebanese Shii Women, and the Transformation of Ashura
    Deeb, Lara Aghaie,
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    Friedl, Erika Afkhami, Mahnaz Friedl, Erika
  • Sexuality, Dating, and Double Standards: Young Iranian Immigrants in Los Angeles
    Hanassab, Shideh
  • Women of Karbala Moving to America: Shii Rituals in Iran, Pakistan, and California
    Hegland, Mary Elaine Aghaie,
  • Iranian Sofrih: From Collective to Female Ritual
    Jamzadeh, Laal Mills, Margaret Bynum, Caroline W. Richman, Paula Harrel, Stevan
  • Between Party and Devotion: Mowludi of Women in Tehran
    Kalinock, Sabine
  • Touching a Sensitive Topic: Research on Shiite Rituals of Women in Tehran
    Kalinock, Sabine
  • Reenacting the Past, Negotiating the Present: Arus-I Qoraysh Ritual of Iranian Women
    Kalinock, Sabine Khosronejad, Perdram
  • ‘Inherited Nostalgia’ among Second-Generation Iranian Americans: A Case Study at a Southern California University
    Maghbouleh, Neda
  • Claiming Space: Documenting Second-Generation Iranian Americans in Los Angeles
    Malek, Amy
  • Subjunctive Nostalgia of Postmemorial Art: Remediated Family Archives in the Iranian Diaspora
    Malek, Amy
  • Barresi Tagheerat-I Ejtemaee Marasem va Manasek-I Azadari Ashoura dar Iran
    Montazer-al-Qaem, Asqar Keshavarz, Zahra Sadaat
  • Is the Study of Lived Religion Irrelevant to the World We Live In?
    Orsi, Robert A.
  • Vernacular Religion and the Search for Method in Religious Folklife
    Primiano, Leonard N.
  • Sofrih-haye Nazri dar Tehran: Ameliyat-I Zanaane dar Jamaat-I Ayeeni
    Rahmani, Jabbari Farahzadi, Yasaman
  • Space, Religion, and Bodies: Aspects of Concrete Emplacements of Religious Practice
    Rodermacher, Martin
  • Secular Immigrants: Religiosity and Ethnicity among Iranian Muslims in Los Angeles
    Sabbagh, Geroges Bozorgmehr, Mehdi Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck Smith, Jane I.
  • The Sofrih: Comfort and Community among Women in Iran
    Shirazi, Faegheh
  • Sofrih and Walima: Food as Ritual in the Islamic Republic of Iran
    Shirazi, Faegheh Khosronejad, Perdram
  • Beyond the Karbala Paradigm: Rethinking Revolution and Redemption in Twelver Shia Mourning Rituals
    Szanto, Edith
  • Piety as Gendered Agency: A Study of Jalaseh Ritual Discourse in an Urban Neighbourhood in Iran
    Torab, Azam
  • The Politicization of Women’s Religious Circles in Post-revolutionary Iran
    Torab, Azam Ansari, Sara Martin, Vanessa
  • Vows, Mediumship, and Gender
    Torab, Azam Okkenhaug, Inger Marie Flaskerud, Ingvild
  • Writing against Culture
    Abu-Lughod, Lila Fox, Richard G.
  • Controversial Vows of Urban Muslim Women in Iran
    Betteridge, Anne Falk, Nancy. A. Gross, Rita M.
  • Muslim Women and Shrines in Shiraz
    Betteridge, Anne Bowen, Donna Lee Early, Evelyn A.
  • From Mourning to Activism: Sayyedeh Zaynab, Lebanese Shii Women, and the Transformation of Ashura
    Deeb, Lara Aghaie,
  • Sources of Female Power in Iran
    Friedl, Erika Afkhami, Mahnaz Friedl, Erika
  • Sexuality, Dating, and Double Standards: Young Iranian Immigrants in Los Angeles
    Hanassab, Shideh
  • Women of Karbala Moving to America: Shii Rituals in Iran, Pakistan, and California
    Hegland, Mary Elaine Aghaie,
  • Iranian Sofrih: From Collective to Female Ritual
    Jamzadeh, Laal Mills, Margaret Bynum, Caroline W. Richman, Paula Harrel, Stevan
  • Between Party and Devotion: Mowludi of Women in Tehran
    Kalinock, Sabine
  • Touching a Sensitive Topic: Research on Shiite Rituals of Women in Tehran
    Kalinock, Sabine
  • Reenacting the Past, Negotiating the Present: Arus-I Qoraysh Ritual of Iranian Women
    Kalinock, Sabine Khosronejad, Perdram
  • ‘Inherited Nostalgia’ among Second-Generation Iranian Americans: A Case Study at a Southern California University
    Maghbouleh, Neda
  • Claiming Space: Documenting Second-Generation Iranian Americans in Los Angeles
    Malek, Amy
  • Subjunctive Nostalgia of Postmemorial Art: Remediated Family Archives in the Iranian Diaspora
    Malek, Amy
  • Barresi Tagheerat-I Ejtemaee Marasem va Manasek-I Azadari Ashoura dar Iran
    Montazer-al-Qaem, Asqar Keshavarz, Zahra Sadaat
  • Is the Study of Lived Religion Irrelevant to the World We Live In?
    Orsi, Robert A.
  • Vernacular Religion and the Search for Method in Religious Folklife
    Primiano, Leonard N.
  • Sofrih-haye Nazri dar Tehran: Ameliyat-I Zanaane dar Jamaat-I Ayeeni
    Rahmani, Jabbari Farahzadi, Yasaman
  • Space, Religion, and Bodies: Aspects of Concrete Emplacements of Religious Practice
    Rodermacher, Martin
  • Secular Immigrants: Religiosity and Ethnicity among Iranian Muslims in Los Angeles
    Sabbagh, Geroges Bozorgmehr, Mehdi Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck Smith, Jane I.
  • The Sofrih: Comfort and Community among Women in Iran
    Shirazi, Faegheh
  • Sofrih and Walima: Food as Ritual in the Islamic Republic of Iran
    Shirazi, Faegheh Khosronejad, Perdram
  • Beyond the Karbala Paradigm: Rethinking Revolution and Redemption in Twelver Shia Mourning Rituals
    Szanto, Edith
  • Piety as Gendered Agency: A Study of Jalaseh Ritual Discourse in an Urban Neighbourhood in Iran
    Torab, Azam
  • The Politicization of Women’s Religious Circles in Post-revolutionary Iran
    Torab, Azam Ansari, Sara Martin, Vanessa
  • Vows, Mediumship, and Gender
    Torab, Azam Okkenhaug, Inger Marie Flaskerud, Ingvild