Author(s)

Rachel Sharaby

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel.

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.

Immigrants, Iran, Definitional Ceremonies, Identity, Syncretism, Ethnic Revival

Sharaby, R. (2022) Cultural Syncretism in Definitional Ceremonies of Iranian Immigrants. Advances in Anthropology, 12, 112-129. doi: 10.4236/aa.2022.123009.