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RAIZEN-DISSERTATION-2014.Pdf Copyright by Michal Raizen 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Michal Raizen Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Ecstatic Feedback: Toward an Ethics of Audition in the Contemporary Literary Arts of the Mediterranean Committee: Karen Grumberg, Supervisor Tarek El-Ariss, Co-Supervisor Elizabeth Richmond-Garza Sonia Seeman Blake Atwood Ecstatic Feedback: Toward an Ethics of Audition in the Contemporary Literary Arts of the Mediterranean by Michal Raizen, B.A.; B.Music; M.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2014 Dedication In loving memory of Polly Anne Raizen Acknowledgements This process truly takes a village, and it is with great joy and humility that I look back and acknowledge all those who accompanied me through this journey. To my dear friend and dissertation advisor Karen Grumberg, you pushed me to follow my intuition when I was consumed by self-doubt. You understood my project before I fully recognized its merits, and you encouraged me to own its idiosyncrasies. Ecstatic Feedback would not have come to fruition without your foresight, guidance, and unwavering faith in my scholarly potential. To my dear friend and co-advisor Tarek El Ariss, how I already miss those moments when I would enter your office with the spark of an idea and emerge with a stack of books. Your brilliant theoretical insights, astute readings, and unflinching support of my intellectual vision make you a prime enabler of this project. Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, you once said that a scholar of comparative literature must possess a lunatic optimism. Ecstatic Feedback was born of lunatic optimism, and the end result speaks to the indelible mark that you have left on my life and work. Sonia Seeman, you taught me about rigor and integrity. It is through your seminars that I worked out the theoretical and methodological nuances of this project. Blake Atwood, thank you for your generous input both as a member of my committee and as an enthusiastic supporter of my entry into the professional world. Billy Fatzinger, thank you for recognizing those moments when the creative aspect of writing a dissertation muddled my ability to sort practical matters. v To Kristen Brustad and Mahmoud Al-Batal, you had me at ahlan wa-sahlan. Seven years later, I found myself standing on a balcony one warm summer evening in Austin, Texas, holding a philosophical conversation in Arabic about ṭarab. To Mohammed Mohammed and Laila Familiar, you watched me shed tears of exhaustion during the Arabic Summer Institute and tears of joy as I learned that I would be going to Cairo as a Fellow at the Center for Arabic Study Abroad. You are both so dear to me. Katherine Arens and Samer Ali, thank you for your dedication and support as I made the transition from a student to a scholar. Faegheh Shirazi, your warmth and grace have lifted my spirits in more ways than you can know. Lital Levy and Nancy Berg, you have been my greatest advocates in the world of professional organizations. Sihem Badawi, you taught me about courage and perseverance. Thank you for opening a window unto the vast beauty of Egypt, with her rhythms and intonations, her ebbs and flows. Today when I stand up in front of a classroom, I recognize the Sihem in me, bold and impassioned. Hoda Barakat, your mentorship has impacted me in ways that I cannot begin to comprehend. You grasped my intellectual vision deeply and intuitively and challenged me to think through the broader implications of audition. To the extraordinary team of healers who saw me through the physical and emotional challenges of completing this degree. Bindi Zhu, Gary Seghi, Joel Cone, and Rudy Aaron, thank you for your restorative touch. Robert Cantu, you encouraged me to laugh at myself, but you also possessed the skill and courage to see me through the darkness to the next laugh. Christie Sprowls, you are one of the most brilliant and compassionate souls that I have encountered. With your guidance, I found the strength to embark on remarkable vi intellectual and emotional journeys. Chirayu Thakkar, your unwavering support, healing presence, and mischievous sense of humor during my fellowship year in Cairo allowed me to find my strength and finish out the year. I will never forget our first meeting on the Nile houseboat, when you prescribed for me yoga and said, “Cairo will heal you if you let it.” Your words and prescription continue to bring light and healing into my life. Dido Nydick, thank you for giving me the tools with which to restore my inner calm and focus. Your compassion and joie de vivre have been a true inspiration and a constant reminder to relish in the small and beautiful encounters of the day to day. Lisa Lapwing, I would not have persevered to the end without your healing touch. Your needling protocol for “focus” helped me push the reset button every week. Your boundless compassion taught me to treat myself with kindness at a time when I was prone to self-criticism. Holly L’Italien, I cannot thank you enough for helping me to find the foods that nourish me from within. You gave me back my life, and for that, I am eternally grateful. To my Argentine tango communities in Tel Aviv and Austin, thank you for providing a support network and for restoring music and movement to my every day. Silvia Rajschmir, you gave me an incredible gift by introducing me to the art of Argentine tango. You welcomed me with open arms into your Tel Aviv community when I still had two left feet. My dearly departed friend Iaacov Tiyutin, you are a true gentleman without whom a night of dancing would have been incomplete. Edwin Yabo, muchas gracias for forcing me to stop looking at my feet, and for helping me to find stillness and calm within motion. Daniela Arcuri, thank you for instilling me with a solid foundation in Argentine tango and guiding me toward a more nuanced sense of movement and musicality. Your humor and vii passion during our weekly lessons provided me with sheer joy during a most challenging of times. Michael Arbore, my dear friend and dance partner, thank you for patiently practicing molinette after molinette until I learned to turn on my own axis. Our weekly dose of practice and laughter kept me grounded through this process and helped me to laugh at myself. Lea Ves and Tien Brown, thank you for your friendship and support on the dance floor and beyond. Lea, you will always be the voice in my head saying that a good milonga is well worth a drive. Marina Flider, after several years, I finally listened to your words of wisdom and made the transition from playing tango on the cello to dancing tango. Between animated discussions of Walter Benjamin and all things space and place, we talked about the magic of tango. I have you to thank first and foremost for helping me find the courage to pursue what is now a great passion. To the ladies of my dissertation reading group, you provided both the emotional support and critical insights to move me through this project from its very inception to its final moments. Somy Kim, your words of encouragement and contagious intellectual curiosity have given me infusions of energy when I thought that I had used up my reserves. Johanna Sellman, your keen critical insights were pivotal in helping me to articulate both the broader framework of my project and the internal cohesion of my chapters. As both the dearest of friends and the most astute of readers, your unwavering support has been a tremendous source of fortitude. Ryan Skinner, Johanna, Nils and Elias, I am eternally grateful for your hospitality during my itinerant months. Tessa Farmer, you kept me on track with our virtual “work parties.” As my only reader from a discipline outside of comparative literature, you pushed me to articulate my arguments clearly and concisely, viii making my project relevant to a broader academic readership. Naminata Diabate, you are a pillar of strength and a true role model. I learned so much about perseverance and rigor from watching your own academic journey. Katie Logan, Anna Ziajka Stanton, Drew Paul, Rachel Green, Lior Sternfeld, Itay Eisinger, I am so privileged to have such talented and forward-thinking colleagues and friends. I have thoroughly enjoyed our conversations in the context of conference organization and graduate seminars. I look forward to future collaborations and eagerly await the day when your respective books line my shelves. Lauren Apter Bairnsfather, your friendship means the world to me. As both a problem solver and a dedicated listener, you have lifted my spirits and propelled me forward innumerable times. Thank you for “puppy time” and tea on an “as-needed” basis. Together we took some daunting intellectual and emotional steps toward a better understanding of a place that we so desperately love but cannot fully accept. To my brother and sister, Yuval and Karen Raizen, my love for you is boundless. These past few years have presented us with many challenges, and together we have discovered our resilience as individuals and as siblings. Someone once described us as three little ducklings, following our mother and basking in a certain glow. Through we all live hundreds of miles away from each other, that glow continues to draw us close. And to my sister-in-law, Renee Raizen, thank you for being dear friend.
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