The Artistic Creation of an Immigrant Artist in a Hybridized Atmosphere: The Interplay of Cultural Signs

Ana Lily Amirpour was born in 1980 from Iranian Parents in England, and moved to Miami, Florida with her family when she was young. She attended San Francisco State University as an art major for her undergraduate degree, and then graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. Although she has experienced a few short movies, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) is her first long movie. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night happens in an imaginative city named Bad City. A lawless city which its location is not specified, but surrounded with industrial ugly oil companies. The time and place of this movie are not recognizable and although it has both Iranian and American signs you cannot certainly say whether it is Iran or America. In this movie, Amirpour integrates the cultural signs of both countries (America as a host and Iran as an immigrant). According to Nojoumian, identity is always under construction and reconstruction, he defines it from semiotics perspective "as a signifier between an individual and his community". On the one hand, in order to relate himself to his community, an individual should construct an identity; on the other hand, each community should have a specific identity to accept individuals as its members. Nojoumian believes that understanding the sign system is related to the identity and that like any other sign system is based on "differences". The second identity theory believes in "identity theme" rather than one single identity. Each individual by the help of his identity theme represents different aspects of his identity in different situations. The third identity theory is "the identity process". Nojoumian states that identities are always in a neverending process of change and evolution. Identities also have a kind of signifier/ signified relationship in each sign system; however, the signs are constantly shaped and reshaped. Immigration experience is always accompanied by tension and conflict. In other words, the immigrant is always under a double paradoxical command. The host asks the immigrant to assimilate into its culture, yet simultaneously it orders him to keep a distance which results in the "paradox of assimilation and difference". Therefore, the immigrant will be in an impossible situation: on the one hand he has to actively participate in the assimilation process; on the other hand, he should keep his distance from the host culture. The immigrant artist is not allowed to create a kind of art which is completely related to his culture because it is not readable and understandable in the host country, neither is he allowed to create some kind of art which is completely related to the host culture since that place is reserved for the artists of the host country. The aim of this article is to show how her shattered identity as an immigrant artist is represented in her art. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night portrays the impossible situation of an immigrant artist since she is always under a double command of the host culture (American). This double command asks Amripoure to assimilate with American culture yet warns her at the same time to keep her distance from the host culture. On the one hand, as an immigrant artist, she is not allowed to create a movie which is completely according to Western- Vampire genre. On the other hand, she is not also allowed to produce something which is in complete accordance with her native Iranian culture since in that case, it is not understandable and attractive for American audiences. Although this impossible situation seems very painful at first glance, it is beneficial for the immigrant artist. In this hybridized space, she creates a kind of art which is innovative and unique, because she is not completely preoccupied with the Hollywoodian clichés imposed by the host culture.