Talk:Khaled Hosseini

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www.khaledhosseini.com

```` June 27, 2007, david ahnert Could I add a link to the bayareaintellect.com, which simply provides a report of Hosseini's talk about his new novel? I do not understand why an establishment magazine like TIME can have such a link, but an indie magazine cannot.

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[edit] Hosseini's ethnicity

Hosseini's ethnic background is a perpetual cause of pointless contention in this article, and I intend to continue to revert any unsourced assertions on the subject, per WP:VERIFY. There have been many edits on this subject, and ample time for someone to provide a reference, but none have been forthcoming. Please don't re-add that information unless you can substantiate it with a reliable source. --ShelfSkewed Talk 18:27, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

I know Hussaini and his family personally. he is from the Hussaini clan of Herat. They are ethnic Tajiks--Anoshirawan 21:52, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
Personal vouching does not constitute a reliable source. It amounts to "It's true because I say so." --ShelfSkewed Talk 21:55, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

shelfskewd is right, we don't know his true ethnic background. what if he is half from one ethnic and half from other? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ragoo Spigetti (talk • contribs) 23:56, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

His last name gives away his ethnicity as Tajik, just as a last name ending with a "zai" like Karzai or Popalzai would give away a Pashtun ethnicity. -- Behnam 03:13, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

I believe you. Now provide a reliable source for that assertion, and I'll stop removing it. --ShelfSkewed Talk 04:10, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Well you can do a search for the last name "Hosseini" even here on Wikipedia and you'll find all Hosseinis are Iranians. -- Behnam 05:43, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
I know people from Wardak, Jalallabad, Peshawar, etc. named Hussaini. Nice try. --Aquabee (talk) 16:08, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
That's because there are Farsiwans in those areas. Also Wardak has Shia Hazaras who also have that last name. TheNewPianist (talk) 04:41, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Actually these are Pashto speaking people that I am referring to. What is with this obsession of yours anyway? Are you that insecure? --Aquabee (talk) 17:16, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
The only other ethnic group in Afghanistan that could have a last name like Hosseini would be the Hazaras. However the Hazaras are Asiatic people and Khaled Hosseini is clearly not a Hazara. He must be a Tajik then. I don't know of a source that will state his ethnicity directly since it's taboo to do so among Afghanistanis, but it's very trivial that his ethnicity is Tajik and I don't think trivial things like that need a direct citation. -- Behnam 05:46, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
I certainly agree that the point is trivial, but then why is it so contentious? You and at least one other editor insist that Dr. Hosseini is Tajik, while another editor (or editors) insists that he is not, and no one can offer any verifiable evidence one way or the other. Until such time as a reliable source is found to support a statement about his ethnicity, the information should be omitted. --ShelfSkewed Talk 12:53, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Khaled Hosseini is american citizen and has american nationality! He isnt in any way related to Afghan or Afghanistan His ethnicity is Tajik/Persian. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Socrates0 (talk • contribs) 22:19, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

The use of Afghan or Afghanistani is merely intended to convey that Hosseini was born in, and was formerly a citizen of, Afghanistan--a fact widely available from multiple reliable sources, and beyond dispute--nothing more. Any further statements about his ethnicity are, without a reliable source to support them, unverified assertions and therefore subject to removal at any time. --ShelfSkewed Talk 22:25, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
  • Any further statements about his ethnicity are, without a reliable source to support them, unverified assertions and therefore subject to removal at any time. --Bejnar (talk) 16:38, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
"If you find unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about a living person—whether in an article or on a talk page—remove it immediately." (emphasis in original) from Wikipedia:Citing sources#When adding material to the biography of a living person.--Bejnar (talk) 16:50, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Hosseini's ethnicity is shrouded in mystery DELIBERATELY. I mean seriously, people. A person only conceals their ethnicity for very good reason. The fact is that he is a Tajik and a Shi`ite. Yet, this is treated like a well guarded secret because it would make way too clear the biases and prejudices in his writings. He's a Tajik and a Shi`ite and Tajiks and Shi`ites should stop trying to hide it. The guy is a best selling author. Be proud of it for God's sake and stop trying to conceal it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.209.203.254 (talk) 23:31, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Khaled referring to himself as an "Afghan"

At the 1:15 mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzwMvYmZ8_U

If any proponent of "Afghanistani" can find a snippet of Khaled Hosseini using this word, then please provide it here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aquabee (talk • contribs) 04:27, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

According to Princeton University's WordNet, Afghanistani is a synonym for Afghan (Afghan as in the fabricated nationality). So if Princeton says it's a synonym, there should be no issue with using Afghanistani instead. Especially considering that he is not an ethnic Afghan (see Pashtuns). TheNewPianist (talk) 05:37, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
Tell this to Khaled Hosseini who clearly calls himself an Afghan in this video and every other appearance. I don't buy your argument for a second. Nor do I think that you actually believe it either. I'd suggest you check any library for the use of "Afghanistani" in print. Even online, it's merely an anomaly. --Aquabee (talk) 05:43, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Princeton University's WordNet:

noun 1. a native or inhabitant of Afghanistan [syn: Afghan]

TheNewPianist (talk) 06:03, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Tell Khaled Hosseini that he is not Afghan. You know him, right? --Aquabee (talk) 06:10, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

He is an educated person, so he knows he is not Afghan already. Many Tajiks call themselves Afghan instead of Afghanistani for practical reasons (eg. to sell more books, etc). TheNewPianist (talk) 06:14, 19 December 2007 (UTC)
That's bordering on libel you know. I'm not wasting any more time here. --Aquabee (talk) 06:29, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

This paragraph bothers me:

"In 1976, Hosseini's father obtained a job in Paris and moved the family there. They chose not to return to Afghanistan because communists had seized power through a bloody coup. Instead, in 1980 they sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California. Having left Afghanistan with only the clothes on their back, they were forced to subsist on welfare and food stamps for a brief period."


1) If they chose not to return to Afghanistan from Paris, how could they have left Afghanistan with little more than the clothes on their backs? 2) Additionally I dont think he is pashtun is he? Has he stated anywhere that he is pashtun?, unnless he has done so we should remove that "fact", since his name clearly implies that he is not pashtun. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.203.33.59 (talk) 00:48, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Comment on biography

[Transfered from article]

However on his official homepage it is clearly stated in the Bio section that "In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States." Source: http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-bio.html

If they chose not to return to Afghanistan from Paris, how could they have left Afghanistan with little more than the clothes on their backs? Maybe someone is thinking of his book?-- Furthermore, saying that he is pashtun is just absurd. Again there seems to be mixing of reality and fiction. The kite runner is not an autobiograpy. In both his books he potrays the pashtuns as victimizers and I think its important to note that he is NOT a pashtun. Does someone have any sources that verify that he is pashtun, otherwise it is obvious from his name that he is not, or that they were forced to flee from Afghanistan even though they chose not to return to Afghanistan from Paris? Would appreciate it thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.203.33.59 (talk • contribs)


Its very stupid and naive to call someone Afghanistani when all over the web and the whole world and including himself mentions "Afghan". In interview with John Karazki he clearly called himself as "Pure Afghan"

Historian born 1975 (talk) 00:22, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recent reverts

To 84.59.98.184: You have recently made several edits to this article that are just reverts to an earlier version you edited. Although other editors have changed your edits, there are also other edits in between that your reverts are undoing. For example, I corrected the information about Hosseini's position with the UNHCR, based on the source already cited. If you would like to make changes to particular parts of the article, please don't do it in such a way that you undo other editors' good edits. It is not productive to just revert everything to the version you like without explanation.

As it is, your edits appear to be simply destructive of factual corrections, and to be adding unreferenced assertions about Hosseini's ethnicity. As I pointed out in an earlier edit summary, the references cited to support at least one of those statements do not say anything at all on the subject. Again, please be more selective in your edits, and if you have a particular point of disagreement, discuss it here instead of simply reverting again. Regards--ShelfSkewed Talk 23:04, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Husseini is a Tajik of the Qezelbash subgroup. That was the sole information i have changed. The citations you mention are not seeable. Concerned to his ethnicity, some Pashtun mf are always changing facts and turning them inti meaningless BS. An example. It is said he is an Afghan, sure, as someone who comes from Afghanistan, a country where Pashtuns try to Pashtunize it, but calling him as Pashtun, tough he is of Persian, Tajik background, is wrong. I do not know who wrote Husseini can speak Pashto, a language which is equivalent to the fart of a donkey and that Pashto is his native language BS! His parents left Afghanistan as TAJIKS before he have ever visited a school there and his native language if Persian not a fart. You need just to read his books how he is blaming Pashtun mentality and culture passively. He speak about their homosexuality, about their ritual marriage ceremonies (graping a woman and taking her by violence to the own house on a donkey) and many more. Specially the racist faces of Pashtuns are more than presented. Just read Kite Runner His background http://www.afgha.net/?q=node/4302 http://www.weshow.com/uk/videos/post/search?text=+Tajik-American


--88.68.215.70 (talk) 16:06, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

No, the Tajik information is NOT the only thing you are changing. You are also reverting different edits, by other editors, that have nothing to do with those subjects. And even on the topic of ethnicity, you are simply reinserting unsourced assertions on the subject. The references I am talking about are in the raw text (in the version you keep reverting to) directly after the phrase Tajik American, but the sources do not support that assertion of ethnicity.
Before you started your edits a couple days ago, the article had no references to Pashtun or Tajik, and that's where it should end up unless someone can come up with reliable sources. --ShelfSkewed Talk 16:48, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
Your last revert referred to vandalism. Can you be more specific please? --NeilN talk ♦ contribs 17:37, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
See my comments above. The editor is reverting to a particular version he likes because the ethnicity information suits his POV. But in so doing he is reverting a number of other good edits made over a long period of time that have nothing to do with that. Further, the ethnicity information he is reinserting is unsourced. --ShelfSkewed Talk 17:43, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
For example the sentence "Having left Afghanistan with only the clothes on their back, they were forced to subsist on welfare and food stamps for a brief period." is not from the biography of Khaled Hossein, but is a statement about one of the characters in his book. It shouldn't be re-added. Similarly, there is no reason for removing the ISBN for Thousand Splendid Suns from the footnote. --Bejnar (talk) 00:36, 10 March 2008 (UTC)