Tiara Amalia Wulandari

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7 B – Diasporic Literature

Summary of diasporic elements in Paris Rendez-vous by Persis M. Karim

Paris Rendez-vous written by Persis M. Karim told the story about the character “I”
who wanted to help her cousin, Minoo, to get a visa before she went to the United States. In
this story, the character “I” told about Minoo, her cousin from Iran. Their fathers were
brothers. The character “I” had a father from Iran but lived in America and her mother was
French. Minoo’s father had been in prison for almost five years, and three decades later,
Minoo was in prison too because she was a victim of “counter-revolutionary activity” in Iran.
She released from jail in 1987. The character “I” and Minoo had a different life. The
character “I” could speak Persian little, and Minoo could speak English little. The character
“I” was trying to remember her root by speaking Persian although she could not speak it well.
Minoo’s life had been filled with politics and demonstrations, while the character “I” had
been struggled to fit in at American high school. The character “I” was born in the U.S,
which marks her that she is the second generation in her immigrant family, while Minoo is
born in Iran and tries to go to the U.S. to start a new life. If she makes it go to the U.S., she
will be the first generation of immigrant family.

They met in Paris in February 1993. Minoo’s look was different from her photo sent
to her cousin. She wore a tight black sweater, black trousers, and a long fake leopard-skin
coat. It means that Minoo was trying to fit in with the place where she had been; thus, she did
not wear a black chador, just like in Iran. The reason why they met in Paris was that the
character “I” could not go to Iran, and Minoo wanted to go to the United States on a tourist
visa in order to meet their uncle, which it was only their pretext. The real reason why Minoo
wanted to come to the United States was that she wanted to move from Iran. We can
conclude that Minoo wanted to immigrate to the United States from Iran. She chose Paris to
get a visa because it would be easier Iranians get visas in western cities than in the Middle
Eastern capitals.

The character “I” planned to spend ten days in Paris with Minoo and mapped some
places to visit, but they did not go to any places on the map. Minoo just wanted to drink wine,
smoke cigarettes, and watch people go by in Paris cafes. It seems like American habits,
drinking wine or smoking cigarettes, not like Iranian habits.

When they went to the U.S. embassy, the character “I” felt she could help her cousin
to get a visa, because she thought that she had the American passport. The character “I” tried
to explain her cousin’s situation and the reasons why she wanted to go to the United States.
She also showed her American passport to the embassy’s employee, but the employee refused
to see her. She wanted Minoo to talk by herself about her situation and the reasons why she
wanted to go to the United States in English. She also asked why Minoo did not go to the
closer embassy to Iran. After checking the documents that they brought, the embassy did not
give a visa to Minoo, because her documents were legitimate. When the character “I” forced
the woman to give her reason why her cousin could not get a visa, the woman lost her patient
and saying that Iranian responsible for this situation which makes them could not let Iranians
into the country. After Minoo’s visa had been denied, she planned going to Singapore and go
to the university there.

The character “I” and Minoo still attempted to get a copy of Minoo’s father French
birth certificate to see if this document could help them to get a French visa for Minoo.
However, they struggled to track the institution that released that birth certificate. When they
were in mairie, they struggled to prove that they were Karims because their fathers were only
born in Paris, and none of them lived in French. On the other hand, their grandmother
changed her name from Maryam to Marie Abdul-Karim, and also Minoo’s father, Antoine
changed his name too into Antoine Abdul-Karim. Thus, Minoo had to prove that she was
Antoine’s daughter. After begging to the employee for the birth certificate, they got the copy
of it.

After they got the birth certificate, they returned to the apartment where they were
staying. Then, they saw the newspaper headlines that the United Nation building in New
York had been bombed, causing hundreds injured and several people had been killed. The
speculation that Iranians had been involved in this tragedy appeared. After seeing the
headlines, Minoo thought that it would be harder to go anywhere. She thought that Iranians
carried the world’s anger on their shoulder. The character “I” supported Minoo and said that
they would have a way to get her somewhere, although not to the U.S. It shows us that Minoo
just wanted to leave her country and starting a new life in the host country, although she will
struggle because she is Iranian.
 In conclusion, there are some diasporic elements in this story. The character “I” is a
child of immigrant parents who moved to the United States. The character “I” is the second
generation in her family because her parents are immigrant, and she was born in the host
country, which is the U.S. Minoo, her cousin, is Iranian. Their fathers are brothers. Minoo
wants to have a French visa so she can go to the U.S. and starts a new life, although she has
to gives another reason to go there. Minoo also dresses up like other people in Paris, such as
wearing a black sweater, black trousers, and long fake leopard-skin coat. The way she dresses
up is not like ordinary Iranian women who wear a black chador. It means that she tries to fit
in by changing the way she dresses up. Then, when they arrived in Paris, Minoo does not
want to do the tourist things, such as visiting the famous places in Paris. She just wants to
drink wine, smoking cigarettes, and seeing people go by from the cafes. Those are habits of
Western people, and it contrasts with her background that she is an Iranian woman. We can
understand that Minoo wants to move to the U.S. or anywhere to start a new life, and she
starts to do some Western habits while they are in Paris. Moreover, the struggle when
Minoo’s cannot have a French visa because she is Iranian shows us that people seeing her and
other Iranians in a different way. Unfortunately, when she has the birth certificate to complete
her documents, the news that the United Nations building had been bombed. This tragedy
will make her, and other Iranians cannot go anywhere easily. This problem is usually faced
by immigrants, especially if they come from a country which is known as “terrorist nation.”