In Hyphen, the feminist activist and academic Pardis Mahdavi explores her hyphenated identity as an Iranian-American who is struggling to belong. With her Iranian heritage often at odds with her American self, Mahdavi examines the hyphen's rise and fall during its curiously turbulent history as a uniter and divider of words.
Hyphen is part of the Object Lessons book series (Sock; Veil), which illuminates stories behind everyday objects and inspires readers to contemplate the deeper significance behind items that generally aren't thought about beyond their immediate usefulness. Mahdavi (Crossing the Gulf; Gridlock) highlights the hyphen's glory days, including its enduring presence etched into the stone facade of the New-York Historical Society, and its politicization by President Theodore Roosevelt when he questioned the loyalty of hyphenated Americans.
As dean of Social Sciences at Arizona State University, Mahdavi connected with students whose struggles with their hyphenated identities mirrored her own. She shares their stories and speaks eloquently to the travails of those caught between worlds, trying to connect their past and present. After being stripped of her Iranian citizenship, Mahdavi realized she didn't have to fit on one side of the hyphen or the other. Instead, she embraced the space between her various identifies, her voice and authority residing in the mighty hyphen itself.
While the hyphen shines as a connector of compound words and allows them, over time, to take on new meanings, for the author its true magic lies in its ability to harmonize and honor a person's individuality. --Shahina Piyarali, writer and freelance reviewer