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March 31, 2006
Breaking stereotypes
Professor examines new wave of Arab film.
CASSANDRA SAVAGE
We have a tendency, in the West, to package humanity and history
into tidy categories. For some reason, dating back to Plato at least,
we feel compelled to believe there is a certain essence or unalterable
list of characteristics that defines certain people, places and
eras. In the process of organizing our world by such rigid definitions,
we lose sight of its complexity and base our actions on tired (and
often very dangerous) clichés about who people are, what
they stand for and where they come from.
Dr. Malek Khouri, an assistant professor of film in the faculty
of communication and culture at the University of Calgary, has observed
emerging patterns in Arab cinema that aim to challenge this way
of thinking. Earlier this month, Khouri presented his research as
part of a lecture series organized by Simon Fraser University's
Counter Culture, a monthly discussion and screening series on media,
art and democracy. The title of his lecture, New Arab Cinema and
National Identity: Re-incorporating the Jewish into Arab Identity,
points to the particular clichés Khouri's work is concerned
with: "the Jew" and "the Arab."
A significant number of the films coming out of contemporary Arab
cinema show the complexity of Arab identity and the cultural diversity
of Arab society. In particular, the films aim to explore Arab-Jewish
identities and revive the 3,000-year-old history of Arab Jews in
the Middle East. Khouri screened clips from Forget Baghdad,
Alexandria – Why?, Summer in La Goulette, Gulf
War, What Next? and Salut Cousin. Each film, in its own
way, celebrates the heterogeneity of Arab identity and attempts
to dismantle common (Western) notions of the Arab world. Stories
of Egyptian Jews and Iraqi communist Jews living in Israel challenge
any equation of Jews with Zionism or simplistic notions of "Arab"
versus "Jew."
"Since the creation of the state of Israel, allusion to Jews
as part of the Arab cultural mosaic had increasingly become a taboo
in Arab cinema," Khouri explained. He noted that in the mid-1990s,
however, a number of filmmakers attempted to break the mold.
According to Khouri, these new films are a direct response to the
"rising tide of religious dogma" in the Arab world. Created
against a backdrop of sectarian violence, local wars and major violence
associated with Palestine, Iraq and the Gulf War, the films are
part of a wider effort to combat colonialist imagery of Arabs and
Muslims.
Western media portrayals of Arab society as intolerant, argued Khouri,
have been adopted by members of the Arab world itself and are at
the root of existing strife.
"The predominant western representations of the Arab world
existed long before existing conflicts," he observed. "These
images were largely misguided, erroneous and only reflected western
inability to comprehend and even appreciate the complex aspects
of Arab political and cultural history."
Over time, however, many members of Arab society adopted colonialist
imagery of themselves and "today only see themselves through
their sectarian and religious identity." New Arab cinema, however,
aims to create an alternative set of images and identities.
"This re-configuration of Arab identity," said Khouri,
"produces a sense of shared community that recognizes itself
as part of an interregional, cross-state, multi-religious, multi-ethnic
and intercultural entity."
For a glimpse of cinematic versions of what it is to be a Jew or
what it is to be an Arab, check out the Seattle Arab and Iranian
Film Festival (March 31 to April 6) or the Vancouver Jewish Film
Festival (March 30 to April 9).
Cassandra Savage is an MA candidate in the School of Communication
at Simon Fraser University.
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