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Iran's daughter and mother Iran: Googoosh and diasporic nostalgia for the Pahlavi modern

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2017

Farzaneh Hemmasi
Farzaneh Hemmasi*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto Faculty of Music, 80 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C5, Canada E-mail: farzaneh.hemmasi@utoronto.ca
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Abstract

This article examines Googoosh, the reigning diva of Persian popular music, through an evaluation of diasporic Iranian discourse and artistic productions linking the vocalist to a feminized nation, its ‘victimisation’ in the revolution, and an attendant ‘nostalgia for the modern’ (Özyürek 2006) of pre-revolutionary Iran. Following analyses of diasporic media that project national drama and desire onto her persona, I then demonstrate how, since her departure from Iran in 2000, Googoosh has embraced her national metaphorization and produced new works that build on historical tropes linking nation, the erotic, and motherhood while capitalising on the nostalgia that surrounds her.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , May 2017 , pp. 157 - 177
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Filmography

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Discography

Googoosh, ‘Āghā jān-e khub’ (‘My dear, wonderful sir’). Avang Records. 1979Google Scholar
Googoosh, ‘Behesht’ (‘Heaven’). `Ejāz (Permission). Blue Art Production. 2012Google Scholar
Googoosh, ‘Hamsafar’ (‘Fellow traveller’). Pol (Bridge). Taraneh Records. 2008Google Scholar
Googoosh, ‘Khāk-e asir’ (‘Captive land’). Zartosht (Zoroaster). 2001Google Scholar
Googoosh, ‘Man hamun Iranam’ (‘I am Iran itself’), Hajm-e sabz (Green X). Blue Art Production. 2009Google Scholar
Googoosh, ‘Shekāyat’ (‘Complaint’). Fasl-e tāzeh (New Season). Taraneh Enterprises. 2008Google Scholar
Googoosh, ‘Zartosht’ (‘Zoroaster’), Zartosht (Zoroaster). Minoo Productions. 2001Google Scholar
Googoosh and Ebi, ‘Nostalgie’ (‘Nostalgia’). Nostalgia Single. 2015Google Scholar