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Identity, Place, and Subversion in Contemporary Mizrahi Cinema in Israel
Yaron ShemerIn Identity, Place, and Subversion in Contemporary Mizrahi Cinema in Israel , Yaron Shemer presents the most comprehensive and systematic study to date of Mizrahi (Oriental-Jewish or Arab-Jewish) films produced in Israel in the last several decades. Through an analysis of dozens of films the book illustrates how narratives, characters, and space have been employed to give expression to Mizrahi ethnic identity and to situate the Mizrahi within the broader context of the Israeli societal fabric. The struggle over identity and the effort to redraw ethnic boundaries have taken place against the backdrop of a long-standing Zionist view of the Mizrahi as an inferior other whose "Levantine" culture posed a threat to the Western-oriented Zionist enterprise.
In its examination of the nature and dynamics of Mizrahi cinema (defined by subject-matter), the book engages the sensitive topic of Mizrahi ethnicity head-on, confronting the conventional notion of Israeli society as a melting pot and the widespread dismissal of ethnic divisions in the country. Shemer explores the continuous marginalization of the Mizrahi in contemporary Israeli cinema and the challenge some Mizrahi films offer to the subjugation of this ethnic group. He also studies the role cultural policies and institutional power in Israel have played in shaping Mizrahi cinema and the creation of a Mizrahi niche in cinema. In a broader sense, this pioneering work is a probing exploration of Israeli culture and society through the prism of film and cinematic expression. It sheds light on the play of ethnicity, class, gender, and religion in contemporary Israel, and on the heated debates surrounding Zionist ideology and identity politics. By charting a new territory of academic inquiry grounded in an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, the study contributes to the formation of "Mizrahi Cinema" as a recognized and vibrant scholarly field.
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Cover
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Title
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Copyright
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Acknowledgments
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Contents
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Introduction
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Mizrahi Cinema: Definition and Parameters
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Notes on Methodology and Theoretical Frameworks
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The Structure of the Study
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One Mizrahi Ethnicity and Israeli Cinema
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The Mizrahi Dilemma: A Critical Overview
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The Mizrahi on the Israeli Screen: Historical Context
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Critiquing Mizrahi Representation in Israeli Films
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Two The Cinematic Construction of Mizrahi Identity
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Culture and Identity: Beyond the Essentialist/Constructionist Dyad
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The Reconstruction of the Past
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The Dual Valence of Arab-Jewish Identity
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Salvage Cinema
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The Utility of Rootedness
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The Ethnic as a Symptom
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The Cultural Past and the Political Present
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Mediated Constructions of Mizrahi Identity: Ambivalence and Performance
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Conclusion
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Three The Mizrahi Space
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Brushing with the Postmodern
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The Collapse of Postmodern Playfulness: The Redrawing of Ethnic Boundaries
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Cinematic Topos: The Inscription of Marginality
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Marginality as a Normative Space
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The Mizrahi Niche
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Film Funds
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Television
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Four The Absence of Power and the Power of Absence: Victimhood, Struggle, and Agency
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The Dialectics of Power: Casting Subaltern Agency
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Protest in Mizrahi Cinema
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Modalities of Mizrahi Protest in Cinema
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Attenuated Protest
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Corrective Histories
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The Coupling of Victimhood and Agency in Mizrahi Protest Cinema
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Protest Films
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Sderot Cinematheque
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The Remaking of Identities
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Five Intersectionality and Alliances
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The Mizrahi Woman
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The Ethnoclass Dilemma
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The Ethnoreligious Juncture
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Alliances and Inspirations
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Afterword: What Is Mizrahi in Mizrahi Cinema?
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Appendix 1. Israeli Films Cited
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Appendix 2. Interviews
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Works Cited
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Index
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- 978-0-472-02925-9 (ebook)
- 978-0-472-11884-7 (hardcover)