Local for Locals Or Go Global: Negotiating How to Represent UAE Identity in Television and Film
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Local for Locals or Go Global: Negotiating how to Represent UAE Identity in Television and Film Submitted by Xenia Tabitha Gleissner to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Arab and Islamic Studies In August 2012 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: 1 Abstract This dissertation in Middle East Studies explores the creation of national identity through visual media in the contemporary United Arab Emirates. Within a framework of cultural and media studies the thesis analyses how forms of representation are negotiated by Emirati media producers. The research tests the applicability of cultural theories developed by Appadurai and Eickelman in the context of the Gulf Region. The UAE media industry is considered within a network of global media companies. The local industry's interaction with global media production companies illustrates a constructed divide between local and global identities. This creates specific patterns of media making and influences local audience perceptions of different narratives and representations. The research uses qualitative methods, based on interviews and focus groups conducted between September 2009 and April 2010 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The interviewees were Emirati media professional and Students of Media Communication. They discuss how media producers and television presenters try to reconcile their notions of what a national media should be with the restrictive structure of the industry. The interviews demonstrate the challenges of a government- controlled national media for the development of a public dialogue on national identity and confirm that the state-controlled television and film industry, does not account for the diversity of the Emirati community of nationals. The criticism of Emirati representation in the media is accompanied by a feeling of stagnation and inability to change the existing patterns. It results in their turning away towards commercial media. Going beyond an analysis of restrictive media praxis, the research provides an inside perspective on the complex issue of contemporary Emirati identity. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank all scholars, colleagues, and friends who have helped me throughout my research. Special thanks to my supervisors, Dr. Ruba Salih, Dr. Marc Valeri, and Professor Gerd Nonneman for their great support, fruitful discussions, and constant gentle pressure towards the completion of the dissertation. Thanks are also due to Mr. Jo Seiler from Abu Dhabi who has not only provided me with a working opportunity in the UAE, but who also took a personal interest in supporting my research. I am indebted to the scholars from the Zayed Universities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as the Higher Colleges of Technology for their assistance and advice. In particular, I am obliged to Dr. Jane Bristol Rhys and Dr. Alia Yunis for their encouragement and insightful discussions throughout my fieldwork. Mostly, I feel immensely grateful towards everybody in the Emirates who agreed to participate in my research project. I have met so many inspirational, lively and lovable people, some of whom particularly asked not to be named: thank you for sharing your stories and opinions with me. Special thanks to my friends in the UAE, Aliya, Abdul, , Nabil, Hana Makki, Hana Al Hirsi, Marcus, Omar, Shahira, and Zuwayna. Equal thanks go to my Exeter friends, Francesca and Zacharias, for their help, nightly discussions about sociological theories, and non-ending supplies of coffee and ginger snaps. Finally, I owe much to Dr. Sarah Broom who inspired me to pursue the dissertation and who has sadly succumbed to her battle with cancer before the completion of this project. 3 Spelling conventions In the United Arab Emirates many media companies, television brands, and other media use anglicised versions of Arabic terms for their brands. It is therefore difficult to apply a unified style of spelling which does not hinder the flow of reading and is truthful to the Arabic language. As a general rule names, titles, and headlines will be capitalised in both languages. The English spelling of Arabic personal names follows the preferences of the individuals named such (i.e. the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid). Since in the UAE English spelling of names is common (i.e. for business cards, registrations, or online) the transcription of them neither seems necessary nor easier to read. The same practice applies to the names of the emirates, cities, government institutions, or organisations: they will be dealt with as names/brands with the English spelling used in their English publications. To distinguish the internationally used official institutions from media companies and brand names, the latter will be written in Italics. This practice aligns companies with customary English names (i.e. Egyptian Radio) to the cases which do not follow usual spelling conventions: the companies TwoFour54 and Imagenation are examples for such cases of brand-names. Titles and headlines of television shows and films will be written in inverted commas. Arabic terms will be distinguished through Italics. Diacritical transcriptions will be used in this thesis for names and Arabic terms which are not usually written in English. In these cases the spelling of Arabic terms follows the guidelines of the International Journal of Middle East Studies with slight modifications for terms particular to the Gulf dialect. The transcription of i.e. the male attire customary in the Gulf will be transcribed the way it is pronounced, kandōra. Some of the dialect terms are consistently used throughout the UAE media in an anglicised way, such as the abaya and sheela (women’s’ garments). Rather than writing these terms in diacritics, they will be written in their customary spelling in Italic. Particularly challenging is the spelling of Arabic-anglicised terms which follow rules of grammar from both languages. The very specific term “Boyah” for example takes an English plural suffix (Boyahs) when written in Latin alphabet, but the Arabic plural ending –āt when written in Arabic. The main text of this thesis will align such terms to one spelling, but acknowledge the original language of secondary sources using the term. 4 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 9 Research aim and questions ............................................................................................................. 11 Relevance and contribution to the field ........................................................................................... 13 Methodological considerations ........................................................................................................ 18 Fieldwork: context and outline ........................................................................................................ 21 Media Professionals .......................................................................................................................... 23 Students of Media and Communications ......................................................................................... 24 Chapter outline ................................................................................................................................. 26 1 Imagining and visualising nationhood: the dialogical character of imagined community and the legitimisation of a ruling elite ............................................................................................................... 33 1.1 Imagining the nation ................................................................................................................... 35 1.1.1 National identity as a negotiation between ideology and experience ................................ 36 1.1.2 The political setup of the UAE: strengthening the ruling elite and defining its citizens ...... 39 1.1.3 The definition of tribes and a class-system based on ethnicity ........................................... 41 1.1.4 Identities and the dialogue between formal and practical ideologies ................................ 48 1.1.5 The extent of imagination: subsidiary imagined communities ............................................ 51 1.1.6 Imagined communities and imagined face-to-face communities ....................................... 54 1.2 Dialogue with, and control of, media ......................................................................................... 57 1.2.1 Imported mass-media challenging local legitimacy ............................................................. 59 1.2.2 Securing local loyalties and deflecting foreign interference ............................................... 64 1.2.3 Establishing a media infrastructure for the nation building project .................................... 68 2 Enforcing a narrative of reconciliation between past and present ................................................... 75 2.1 The naturalisation of an invented identity through an official discourse ................................... 77 2.1.1 The official