Hoda Shabrang
Abstract
Immigration experience is always accompanied by tension and conflict. In other words, the immigrant is always under a double paradoxical command. The host asks the immigrant to assimilate into its culture, yet simultaneously it orders him to keep a distance which results in the “paradox of assimilation ...
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Immigration experience is always accompanied by tension and conflict. In other words, the immigrant is always under a double paradoxical command. The host asks the immigrant to assimilate into its culture, yet simultaneously it orders him to keep a distance which results in the “paradox of assimilation and difference”. Therefore, the immigrant will be in an impossible situation: on the one hand he has to actively participate in the assimilation process; on the other hand, he should keep his distance from the host culture. The Immigrant artist is not allowed to create a kind of art which is completely related to his culture because it is not readable and understandable in the host country, neither is he allowed to create some kind of art which is completely related to the host culture since that place is reserved for the artists of the host country. In this article, first the “paradox of assimilation and difference” and its consequences will be discussed, then the movie A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night by Ana Lily Amirpour, who is an immigrant Iranian-American director, will be analyzed. The aim is to show how her shattered identity as an immigrant artist is represented in her art. Although this impossible situation seems very painful at first glance, it is beneficial for the immigrant artist. In this hybridized space, she creates a kind of art which is innovative and unique, because she is not completely preoccupied with the hollywoodian clichés imposed by the host culture.