TITLE:
Cultural Syncretism in Definitional Ceremonies of Iranian Immigrants
AUTHORS:
Rachel Sharaby
KEYWORDS:
Immigrants, Iran, Definitional Ceremonies, Identity, Syncretism, Ethnic Revival
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Anthropology,
Vol.12 No.3,
August
26,
2022
ABSTRACT: The revival of ethnic identities among immigrants is
a phenomenon that is on the rise in the modern and postmodern era. This article
discusses the renewal of Ruz-e-Bah celebrations, which are traditional spring
celebrations of the Iranian Jews, and highlights unique processes of
ethnicisation in Israel. The study is based on diverse qualitative research
methods, including content analysis, participant observations and in-depth
interviews that were analysed from a phenomenological perspective. The article
concludes that the ceremonies appear to serve as a collective ethnic
“definitional ceremony” for these immigrants, in which crossing between
ethnicity, culture and identity takes place, and in which cultural syncretism
evolved. The Iranian immigrants exhibit a dual identity rooted in ethnic
uniqueness on the one hand, and Israeliness on the other hand, which originates
in their sense of otherness. Through the ritual practice, they stood up for
their right to ethnic otherness within the national space.