Observations of Tehrangeles: A Cultural Enclave in Los Angeles

This essay explores the cultural dynamics of Tehrangeles, a neighborhood in Los Angeles with a high concentration of Iranian expatriates. It discusses the assimilation, cultural identity, and the impact on the chosen social setting. The observations are conducted from a reflexive positionality, providing insights for further research.

The United States of America is a diverse country, and is best exemplified by the epithet
of being the melting pot of cultures. Within the geographical contiguity of the country, several
ethnicities reside who on one hand maintain their cultural identity and its specificities, and on the
other hand they also assimilate into the broader fold of being an American. Owing to this
particular reason, it is said that the form of multiculturalism that is followed in the United States
of America is the salad bowl model of assimilation. The social situations are such that each one
is allowed to maintain their own individuality and at the same time claim that they are equal and
has equal access to nationhood and its benefits. This particular essay shall be devoted to the
enlistment of the set of observations conducted at a particular social setting in the country. For
the purpose of observation, the region which is popularly referred to as Tehrangeles shall be
taken up for discussion. A description of the culture that prevails over there, the ways of
behaviour to be observed in there, the personal experience of feeling of an insider and an
outsider at the same time, and how it has affected my observation of the chosen social setting
shall be provided in the following sections. The method of collecting and interpreting the cultural
data has been from the positionality of reflexivity, and that has provided the insight to determine
whether more research is needed in the field and by what means.
A neighbourhood in the Los Angeles had soon turned out to be the hot spot of Iranian
nationals from the year 1960s and 70s. The number of Iranian nationals immigrating to the
United States of America had escalated by dramatic leaps and bounds just before and after the
1979 Islamic Revolution which had brought about catastrophic changes to the country and the
people. The Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlevi was deposed and the country had come under the rule of
hardline Islamic fundamentalism spearhead Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the mullahs. The
legal and the societal changes that were brought about in the country severly curtailed the

freedoms that were enjoyed by the people of the nation during the reign of Shah. Apart from that
the economic disaster had hit the country hard which had forced many Iranians to seek a safe
haven in various parts of the Western world. California’s Los Angeles was chosen by many
Iranians to settle. There are several reasons behind them choosing Los Angeles as their
destination. Tehrangeles is the destination having the highest concentration of Iranian nationals
living abroad as expatriates in the world.
The Los Angeles is not meant for the poor, and only the rich ones can afford to live in
there. It thus becomes quite evident that only the uber rich Iranians form the community of
Iranian expatriates in the nighbourhood popularly referred to as Tehrangeles. The Iranians who
had escaped Iran to settle in Los Angeles had carried a huge amount of fortune along with them
to start life afresh in the United States of America. They had invested in business and that had
helped enrich the local economy of Tehrangeles. There is a high degree of solidarity among the
Iranian community living in Tehrangeles and that had helped survive all the adversities in the
distant land. The Iranians on being asked about why they had chosen Los Angeles as their
destination to settle in the United States of America, the almost unanimous answer that has been
received is that the climate is quite similar to Tehran and the city of Los Angeles bore a
resemblance of Tehran which was overlooked by the Alborz mountain. The dazzling and
glamorous lifestyle of Los Angeles was a reminiscence of the life that used to be during the reign
of Shah. Thus it was quite clear that the emotional attachment to Iran as it was during the reign
of the Shah was very much strong among the residents therein.
The Iranians in Tehrageles on one hand spoke fluent and accent free English, their love
for their native language Farsi is also very much evident from the fact that each of them
communicated to each other in their mother tongue and the business establishments bore

signboards having both English and Farsi language on them. The young as well as the older
generations savoured on American burgers, pies, hot dogs and cheesecakes as much as they
loved their traditional cuisine consisting of their various rice pilafs with the classic crust called
tahdig, their rich stews called khoresht in Farsi like ghormeh sabzee and gheimeh. They love
their café lattes as much as they are fond of their tea culture. They love gorging in to the gelatos
as much as they love their traditional ice cream, the Akbar Mashdi ice cream and the faloodeh
flavoured with saffron, rosewater and pistachio. They love the barbeque as much as they love
their traditional kebabs. It would however be a misrepresentation to say that majority of the
residents in the region are muslims, as persons belonging to different religious faith reside in the
region, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and all of them live harmoniously with each other. On one
hand they seemed quite modern and western in terms of their dress and though, but they had
strong attachment to their cultural heritage which made them distinct from an average white
American.
On a personal note, I must say that I did not feel like an outsider over there. The Iranian
hospitality and their friendly attitude is something which made me feel like I am one of them.
Except on those occasions when they burst out in Persian, I did feel alienated, and also the kind
of family structure and the attachment to members of their distant family which they had was
something which amazed as that was something which stood in stark contrast to the American
family structure which was nucleated and lacked that warmth, and that was something which
amazed me a lot. so much like Americans, yet so different, in a good way.