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Reza Najafi

Exile and even migration, even if it is voluntary, is inherently a difficult and sometimes devastating experience; however, this experience is doubly difficult and risky for writers or generally for members of the cultural community.

Sometimes migration may mean opening new horizons and benefiting from more freedom and opportunities, but it cannot always be prescribed as a universal solution. Various factors play a role in migration, from age to having enough capital, from having the necessary skills for the host society to having a support network in the destination country, or being familiar with the language and culture of the second community. The past personal structure of the migrant individual is also considered more important than all these factors. It has happened that despite having these mentioned parameters, some individuals have fallen victim to the illness of homesickness and have given up on their migration gift.

But even more important than all of this is whether the person is a voluntary immigrant, with the option to return to their country, or a refugee or political or social asylum seeker with no way to return to their homeland. In this regard, the situation is undoubtedly much more difficult for refugees and asylum seekers. An immigrant is comforted by the fact that if they are not successful in their new society, they have the option to return, which gives them a greater sense of psychological security. Additionally, the possibility of temporary and short-term trips can partially fulfill their emotional and psychological needs, allowing them to maintain some cultural ties with their homeland. However, a refugee or asylum seeker has no bridge to return to their culture and homeland, and this thought and feeling can cause a greater disconnect from their cultural ties with their homeland. It has been observed that individuals who do not have the possibility or hope of returning or temporarily traveling to their country have tried to quickly and fundamentally assimilate into the new culture and society

In the past, migration usually takes place with a predetermined plan and the migrant has made predictions for their new life. However, seeking refuge or being exiled can often happen unexpectedly and with less planning, which can make the refugee or exile more vulnerable. Therefore, whenever we talk about the problems of a migrant in this text, it can also be seen as an example of the problems faced by a refugee or exile, and in fact, it becomes even more complicated.

In any case, it is well known that migration is even more difficult for someone whose profession and life are tied to their native language and culture. The truth is that experience has shown that migration has caused a crisis in creativity for most writers, and although there are exceptions, these exceptions not only do not invalidate the rule, but they also confirm it. This is true not only for permanent migration, but also for temporary migration, whether it is about refugees or immigrants.

Individuals who migrate face different levels of difficulty based on their field of work. In fact, there is an inverse relationship between a person’s level of cultural knowledge and their integration into the new society. An immigrant who has a simple technical skill such as tailoring, cooking, or hairstyling, even if they are not familiar with the language of the host country, will have a better chance than a writer or sociologist who has only average proficiency in a foreign language, because their profession and skill require a high level of language proficiency. By the same token, it is easier for students in technical fields who can get by with knowing a few hundred words related to their profession, compared to students in humanities fields who must achieve near-native fluency in a foreign language. Furthermore, it is a fact that countries that accept immigrants are primarily seeking those with technical and manual skills, and it can be confidently said that a plumber or gardener immigrant will have a better chance than a philosopher or writer. Therefore

But despite the cultural disconnect, what challenges does an immigrant face, especially in the cultural field? So far, our assumption has been that an immigrant will not succeed in literary or humanities fields due to a lack of mastery of the host community’s language. However, unfortunately, even if the immigrant has a mastery of the second language at the level of their mother tongue, the problem will not be completely solved. An immigrant who is proud of their university degree and even has a mastery of a foreign language will find dissatisfaction in advanced industrial societies where the percentage of university graduates is dozens of times higher than their own country, and the quality of their education and the value of their degree is also higher. There is also a more difficult competition, and many natives with university degrees are forced to work and engage in fields different from their field of study. It may be difficult for us to imagine individuals with PhDs in philosophy or literature working as airport security officers, for example, but this is a reality that can

Everything that was said, regardless of possible discrimination, was true. Older immigrants know well that despite anti-discrimination laws, in practice and informally, natives are given priority in equal conditions. These subtle discriminations are more noticeable in Europe than in North America. For example, an Iranian journalist living in Germany writes, “In Germany, foreigners are always considered guilty unless proven innocent. But how can they prove their innocence when in the media of this country, foreigners have less than one percent representation? I live in a city of thirty-seven thousand people, where at least half of the population is made up of Turks, Greeks, Portuguese, Spaniards, and other nationalities, but in the two local newspapers of this city, I have never seen a single mention of a foreigner; while if you walk through the local market, seventy percent of the shops are owned and run by foreigners.” (1)

It is necessary to emphasize that discrimination and negative attitudes in the host society are more directed towards refugees and political exiles than regular and legal immigrants. The problem here is that gradually, this minority is also seen through the lens of economic refugees, who are seen as a burden on the taxpayers of the host country. This view leads to more discrimination and restrictions for refugees and political exiles.

In any case, considering the difficulties present in Iran, some may think that cultural people can work more freely and with more ease for their own community by using the country’s open space. It should be noted that this is not as easy as it seems. Immigrants usually face new challenges when they first enter a new community, which takes up most of their time and energy; from learning the language to familiarizing themselves with the new administrative system and bureaucracy, as well as finding new connections and acquaintances, and even finding a job, all of which can consume all of a newcomer’s time. On the other hand, living and adapting to a new cultural space and striving for integration with it psychologically occupies the mind to the extent that the individual is practically detached from their own cultural atmosphere.

In the face of exceptions like Jamalzadeh, who wrote his works in exile (and let’s forget that he had never actually lived in Iran to truly be considered an immigrant), we have dozens of other examples like Chubak, Gholamhossein Sa’edi, Golistan, and others whose departure from Iran marked the end of their literary lives! While some of them, like Golistan or Chubak, did not struggle with language or cultural unfamiliarity in their new society, nor were they burdened with financial difficulties. Experience has shown that migration or exile can be paralyzing for an artist or literary figure.

This truth is not only about Iranians, but it is also true about many non-Iranian writers and intellectuals. Stuart Hughes, in his book “The History of Thought Migration,” shows how many German writers and intellectuals, who were forced to leave their country due to Nazism, lost their literary and artistic creativity, how many committed suicide, or suffered from depression and despair, and turned to other professions to make a living. He rightly points out that people like Thomas Mann, who received political support, were very few and migration for most migrants meant losing their audience and demand for their achievements.

Here, it is worth mentioning the cultural differences. Some American and English writers were able to continue their work in migration and, for example, wrote for their audience in Paris in the 1920s, such as “The Lost Generation”. However, it should be noted that Anglo-Saxon culture and worldview are generally global, while Latin American, Russian, or Iranian writers are more dependent on their own society and struggle to create outside of it. Turgenev, although he lived mostly in Paris, would return to Russia to write his novels. He said he could not write without the Russian winters and the icicles hanging from his window. Pasternak, when he heard he might be exiled outside of Russia, wrote a letter to Stalin begging him to let him stay in Russia, as he could not write outside of it. This is also true, although to a lesser extent, for Iranian writers. The fate of Gholamhossein Sa’edi is a testament to this

The truth is that despite censorship and pressure, the job market for Iranian writers is hidden within the country. Outside of Iran, publishing books is free, but usually these works are published in limited quantities of about two hundred copies and even then, they struggle to find readers.

Some immigrants try to keep their native culture alive by creating organizations and cultural institutions outside of their country, but this is not an easy task. Previous generations of immigrants have grown old and tired, resigning from any cultural activities and efforts, while the children and teenagers who have grown up in the midst of a major migration have become so absorbed in the new culture that they have less ability or interest in preserving their parents’ culture. The intellectual and cultural gap between parents and children in foreign communities is an undeniable reality. In the midst of this, parents strive to make sure their children do not forget their Persian heritage, even though they may not always be successful. Attracting young people to the Iranian culture has become a difficult task.

Host countries also often do not provide much support for foreign cultural associations and organizations, and some even consider the creation and promotion of these associations and gatherings as a barrier to the integration of immigrants into their society. The economic crisis in industrialized societies has also exacerbated this issue. New immigrants, for example in Germany, have received significantly less support from municipalities to cultural associations in recent years, almost to the point of zero.

Let’s make it short; migration may provide an opportunity for capitalists, industrialists, or space children to breathe and fly, but for people of culture, it is a difficult challenge, and the more and deeper they have traveled in their own culture, the more difficulties they will face in the new society.

Note:

According to the Facebook page of Javad Talei, a journalist living in Germany.