'Talking Back': Counter-Hegemonic Discourses of North
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
‘Talking Back’: Counter-Hegemonic Discourses of North American Arab and Muslim Women Artists Kenza Oumlil A Thesis In the Department of Communication Studies Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada August 2012 © Kenza Oumlil, 2012 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Kenza Oumlil Entitled: ‘Talking Back’: Counter-Hegemonic Discourses of North American Arab and Muslim Women Artists and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Communication) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. G. Dover External Examiner Dr. S. Salaita External to Program Dr. G. Mahrouse Examiner Dr. K. Lynes Examiner Dr. M. Gagnon Thesis Supervisor Dr. Y. Jiwani Approved by Dr. M. Allor, Graduate Program Director August 31, 2012 Dr. B. Lewis, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science ii ABSTRACT ‘Talking Back’: Counter-Hegemonic Discourses of North American Arab and Muslim Women Artists Kenza Omlil, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2012 This dissertation research examines expressions and articulations of counter- hegemonic discourses on the part of Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Middle-Eastern women in the U.S. and Canada, with a particular attention to race and gender. As they are predominantly constructed as passive and imperilled in mainstream media, this doctoral work looks at how some of these women take voice and ‘talk back’ by creating their own media texts. The methodology involves a selection of the following case studies: (1) the poetry and performances of Suheir Hammad; (2) the cinematic interventions of Annemarie Jacir (Salt of This Sea); (3) the cinematic interventions of Shirin Neshat (Women Without Men); and (4) the films and the television comedy (Little Mosque on the Prairie) created by Zarqa Nawaz. These case studies were selected because they constitute long-term interventions to alter the dominant media sphere and on the basis of their popularity – they benefit from a wide reach within particular ‘interpretive communities.’ This dissertation includes a textual analysis focusing on the use of language and imagery deployed by these artists in their various productions. The analysis is supplemented with individual interviews with the artists involved. Additionally, the research includes a performance analysis since some of the case examples involve an embodied performance of an alternative discourse. iii The selected artists are here defined as “identity workers,” rather than the more common phrase “cultural workers,” for the purpose of signalling that the circulated works not only relate to culture, but also endeavour to provide alternative portrayals of identity. My central argument is that these works are constitutive of a discourse of resistance. This thesis posits resistance as being counter-hegemonic. It demonstrates how these representations signify a re-articulation of identity and a call for a redistribution of symbolic power. It also situates these acts of talking back as constructed ‘mad’ speech based on the argument that hegemonic culture often attempts to construct a particular type of speech as mad in order to contain it while this type of talk is not always literally insane. Further, the works analyzed in this thesis can be understood as making ‘noise.’ I conceptualize noise as a counter-hegemonic language that disturbs the tranquility of the status quo and that celebrates difference. In making noise, the selected identity workers described in my case studies deploy a variety of discursive tactics as interventions. Most notably, they engage in discursive practices of re-writing historical narratives, revalorizing native languages, activating collective heritages, and deploying resignification and reversal. These interventions additionally archive erased stories. Moreover, these texts significantly re-center gender – by referencing the workings of patriarchy, positing women heroines at the center of their narratives, or portraying lead female and feminist characters. The results of this analysis reveal that these works are subjected to attempts of containment and appropriation. In effect, the very popularity of these works endows each artist with increased latitude to stage interventions but also dilutes their intended oppositional messages through circulation and cooptation within iv traditional and new media. This study also demonstrates that the selected artists have been surprisingly burdened with representation. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Suheir Hammad. Photo Credit: Tarik Aylouch ................................................ 72 Figure 2: Montreal performance Poster ........................................................................ 103 Figure 3: Annemarie Jacir ............................................................................................ 123 Figure 4: Poster for Salt of the Sea ............................................................................... 129 Figure 5: Shirin Neshat. Photo Credit: Nabil Youssef .................................................. 161 Figure 6: Scene from Women without Men................................................................... 176 Figure 7: Zarqa Nawaz ................................................................................................ 193 Figure 8: The cast of Little Mosque on the Prairie ....................................................... 197 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………………….6 Noise .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Central Research Question: ‘Talking back’ and Conditions of Counter-Hegemonic Emergence .................................................................................................................................... 12 Methodologies ............................................................................................................................. 13 Case Studies ................................................................................................................................. 16 Organization of the Thesis ....................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 1 .......................................................................................................................... 27 TALKING BACK TO POWER: SITUATING THE ANALYSIS ......................................... 27 The Context – Structures of Domination .............................................................................. 29 Dominant Representations ..................................................................................................... 32 Hegemony/Counter-Hegemony ............................................................................................. 36 Gendering Resistance ................................................................................................................ 56 Sites of Emergence ..................................................................................................................... 62 Popular Culture........................................................................................................................... 63 Implications for Organized Action & Social Movements ................................................. 65 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 69 CHAPTER 2 .......................................................................................................................... 73 THE POETRY OF SUHEIR HAMMAD .............................................................................. 73 Suheir Hammad, poet ................................................................................................................ 74 Significance .................................................................................................................................. 75 Creating Style on the Run ......................................................................................................... 76 Analytical Approach .................................................................................................................. 82 Hammad’s Poetry as Minor Literature .................................................................................................... 83 Juxtaposing Hammad’s Work to Colonial Discourse ........................................................................ 86 Resignification – Gender ................................................................................................................................. 86 Intersectionality ................................................................................................................................................ 90 ‘Feminist Archaeology’ .................................................................................................................................... 94 Resignification – Negation ............................................................................................................................