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Cinema Regarding Nations


Auteur :
Éditeur : Compte d'auteur Date & Lieu : 2007, Berkshire
Préface : Pages : 299
Traduction : ISBN :
Langue : AnglaisFormat : 210x297 mm
Thème : Thèses

Présentation
Table des Matières Introduction Identité PDF
Cinema Regarding Nations

Cinema Regarding Nations: Re-imagining Armenian, Kurdish, and Palestinian national identity in film

This thesis examines how film contributes to the collection of visual images and narratives that enable a community to imagine itself as a nation. It focuses on three such communities, the Armenians, the Kurds, and the Palestinians, who have been, or remain, stateless. It argues that, in the face of external threats, stateless nations and their diasporas require repeated re-imagining to ensure their continued existence. A starting point for the study is that cinema is an important site for this re-imagining in the way that it continually highlights concerns with national identity.

Using a diverse collection of film in each case, the analysis identifies national themes, key symbols, and formal structures employed by film-makers to depict these nations. The films are categorised by means of the concept of “cinema regarding nations”, that is they are specifically about the respective nations. Through this categorisation, the thesis contributes to national cinema studies by facilitating the critical examination of a body of work which otherwise is fragmented.

The study is comparative and uses a combination of textual and contextual analysis that enables the films from each case to be related to their political and social circumstances. The cases represent nations with arguably widely different origins, from the “historic” Armenians to the more “modern” Palestinians. Thus, the thesis also contributes to the debate in studies of national identity and nationalism between those who argue the nation is a modern political invention and those who argue that cultural roots are essential for the formation and persistence of nations. It reveals the relationship of the historical processes of nation formation and the persistence of national identity over time to their representation in film.


Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following institutions for providing me with access to their film and video collections: the Media Resources Centre, University of California, Berkeley; Middle Eastern Studies Centre, New York University; the British Film Institute, London; and the Widener and Lamont libraries at Harvard University. Particular thanks also to Professor Hamid Dabashi of the Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University, New York for allowing me to view his private collection of films. I would also like to acknowledge the help I received from Dr. Eugene Rogan, Director of the Middle East Centre at Oxford University. He kindly allowed me access to the library and willingly engaged in many enlightening conversations about the region.

Various film-makers, including Mohammad Bakri, Rashid Masharawi, Tina Bastajian, and Gariné Torossian generously gave me copies of their films to help with my research.

Artsvi Bakhchinyan was invaluable both in giving his time for interviews and making possible my visit to the Armenian Film Archives in Yerevan. Gareguine Zakoïan, the Deputy Director of the Archive was extremely helpful in providing resources (a projectionist and a movie theatre) for viewing some of the rarer films from the collection, and for his time in numerous interviews. Reem Bader from the Royal Film Commission in Amman, Jordan was also generous with her time in discussing the Palestinian film archives.

Vergine Gulbenkian, Dr. Kerem Oktem, and Refqa Aburemaileh, were very valuable in interpreting respectively from Armenian, Turkish/Kurdish, and Arabic where sub-titles were either absent or sparse. Their insights added greatly to my ability to understand difficult passages in several films.

I am grateful to the inspiring teaching at the University of Reading Film, Theatre, and Television Department during my study for a Masters Degree which spurred my interest in pursuing this research. I owe a particular debt to my supervisor, Dr. Alastair Phillips, who has been exceptionally generous with his time and constructive criticism. His extensive comments on my work have prompted me to question my ideas and have considerably improved my work over the last four years. Finally, I would like to thank Rosemary Foot whose delight in the subject and unflagging support and encouragement have made it a great pleasure to undertake this study.




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