THE PORTRAYAL OF THE HISTORICAL MUSLIM FEMALE ON SCREEN A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2017 SABINA SHAH SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES LIST OF CONTENTS List of Photographs................................................................................................................ 5 List of Diagrams...................................................................................................................... 7 List of Abbreviations.............................................................................................................. 8 Glossary................................................................................................................................... 9 Abstract.................................................................................................................................... 12 Declaration.............................................................................................................................. 13 Copyright Statement.............................................................................................................. 14 Acknowledgements................................................................................................................ 15 Dedication............................................................................................................................... 16 1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 17 1.1 Aim..................................................................................................................................... 17 1.2 Origins............................................................................................................................... 19 1.3 Perspective........................................................................................................................ 20 1.4 Framework........................................................................................................................ 24 1.5 Impact................................................................................................................................ 30 1.6 Chapter Outline................................................................................................................ 41 2. THE IMAGE OF THE MUSLIM FEMALE ON SCREEN IN BRITAIN 45 2.1 Socio-Political Representations...................................................................................... 45 2.2 1950-1979.......................................................................................................................... 46 2.3 1980-2000.......................................................................................................................... 48 2.4 2001-2017.......................................................................................................................... 53 2.5 Veiling................................................................................................................................ 70 2 3. THE HISTORICAL MUSLIM FEMALE ON SCREEN.................................. 77 3.1 Case Study 1 – Lotte Reiniger and Early Cinema....................................................... 77 3.2 Early Cinema and the Oriental Female on Screen........................................................ 88 3.3 Historical Female Figures from the Orient as Femme Fatale..................................... 91 3.4 Orientalism and its Effect on the Medieval Muslim Female on Screen..................... 96 3.5 Case Study 2 – Disney’s Aladdin and Globalisation.................................................. 103 3.6 Case Study 3 – Michel Ocelot and Multiculturalism in Animation.......................... 113 3.7 Historical Revival and the Rise of the Muslim Female Superhero........................... 125 4. HISTORICAL RECOVERY....................................................................................... 136 4.1 Locating a Subject............................................................................................................. 136 4.2 Puppetry............................................................................................................................. 138 4.3 Aesthetic Recovery put in Motion.................................................................................. 142 4.4 Sound................................................................................................................................. 146 4.5 North Indian Classical Music.......................................................................................... 153 4.6 Intertitles............................................................................................................................ 162 4.7 Map..................................................................................................................................... 166 4.8 Historical Recovery and the Mise-en-Scène.................................................................. 168 4.9 Violence............................................................................................................................. 177 5. SULTAN RAZIA AS THE MEDIEVAL MUSLIM FEMALE ON SCREEN................................................................................................................................ 183 5.1 Sultan Razia in the Public Domain................................................................................. 183 5.2 Religious Interpretations and the Practice..................................................................... 203 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................... 209 3 BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................... 215 AUDIO-VISUAL MEDIA........................................................................................ 244 Films.............................................................................................................................. 244 Documentary................................................................................................................. 252 Television...................................................................................................................... 253 FILM CREDITS........................................................................................................ 257 APPENDICES............................................................................................................ 258 APPENDIX A. SULTAN RAZIA - EPISODE GUIDE............................................. 258 Word Count: 59,094 4 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Image 1 Still frame taken from Yas (2008)........................................................................ 36 Image 2 Still image taken from the series Untitled (2009)............................................... 37 Image 3 Frame taken from the MPhil animated sample Sultan Razia (2011)................. 37 Image 4 Making the puppets’ heads for Sultan Razia (2017).......................................... 39 Image 5 Dressing the puppet for Sultan Razia (2017)..................................................... 39 Image 6 Still frame before post-production for Sultan Razia (2017)............................ 40 Image 7 The shadow-screen incorporated into the set for Sultan Razia (2017).......... 143 Image 8 Completed frame taken from Sultan Razia (2017)............................................ 144 Image 9 Replicating the horse’s movements for Sultan Razia (2017)........................... 144 Image 10 Still test frame of the palace gates for Sultan Razia (2017)............................ 150 Image 11 Silence and the passing of Sultan Altamash in Sultan Razia (2017).............. 150 Image 12 Tablas made for the practice but replaced with the pakhavaj (2017)............ 157 Image 13 Pakhavaj player in Sultan Razia (2017)............................................................... 157 Image 14 Still test frame of Kathak dancer and musicians for Sultan Razia (2017)..... 158 Image 15 Title frame for Sultan Razia (2017).................................................................... 160 Image 16 Frame of Sultan Ruknuddin riding an elephant in Sultan Razia (2017)....... 161 Image 17 Frame taken from the animated map sequence in Sultan Razia (2017)....... 166 Image 18 The Prime Minister in Sultan Razia (2017)....................................................... 169 Image 19 Shah Turkan observes purdah in Sultan Razia (2017)...................................... 170 Image 20 Sultan Altamash in Sultan Razia (2017)............................................................ 171 Image 21 Armoured costume design evident in Sultan Razia (2017)............................ 173 Image 22 Test frame for the fabric shop in Sultan Razia (2017)................................... 174 Image 23 Sultan Ruknuddin’s chambers in Sultan Razia (2017).................................... 175 Image 24 Sultan Altamash’s chambers in Sultan Razia (2017)....................................... 175 5 Image 25 Razia prays at the mosque in Sultan Razia (2017)........................................... 176 Image 26 Image of the Mongol horde in Sultan Razia (2017)........................................ 179 Image 27 Frame of the eyeballs rolling on the floor in Sultan Razia (2017)...............