FLOWS VS. PRIMORDIALISM:THE ETHNOSCAPE IN THE BUBBLE

OUTLINE

1. Arjun Appadurai and Modernity at Large2. The Bubble 3. Next Week

• Anthony Giddens

Disembeddedness (from Time & Space) & Self-Reflexivity

• David Harvey

Time-Space Compression

• Arjun Appadurai

Disjuncture & Cultural Global Flows

(Post)Modernity

MODERNITY AT LARGE (ARJUN APPADURAI)o to explore global disjunctures “is to look at the relationship among five dimensions of global cultural flows --(a) ethnoscapes (b) mediascapes, (c) technoscapes, (d) financescapes, and (e) ideoscapes. --scape-- the fluid, irregular shapes of these landscapes (p. 33)--imagined; imagination as a social practice

THE FIVE “SCAPES”

o Ethnoscapes: landscape of persons who constitute the shifting world in which we live: tourists, immigrants, refugees, exiles, guest workers, and other moving groups and individuals … “people in flux”o Mediascape: repertoire of images & narratives and “the distribution of the electronic capabilities to produce and disseminate information”o Ideoscapes: the ideologies of states and the counterideologies of movementso Financescapes: a more mysterious, rapid, and difficult flows of global capital, currency and investmento Technoscapes: technology, both mechanical and informational, flows at high speeds across various borders

DISJUNCTURE = DETERRITORIALIZATION1) This terms refers to obvious examples such as transnational corporations and money marketsbut also to ethnic groups, sectarian movements, and

political formations, which increasingly operate in ways that transcend specific territorial boundaries and identities. (49)2) affects …loyalty of groups, their transnational manipulation of currencies and other forms of wealth and investment, and the strategies of states. The loosening of the holds between people, wealth, and territories fundamentally alters the basis of cultural reproduction (49).

Global Flows

What stops the flows?

Global Flows

5 scapes

Nation-State marginalizedVs. Diasporas

Minoritiesmarginalized

Transnation-alism vs

Funda-mentalism

DISJUNCTURE BETWEEN NATION AND STATE

Israel Palestine

PRIMORDIALISM1) a worldwide rebirth of ethnic nationalisms and separatisms is not … “tribalism,” implying old histories, local rivalries, and deep hatreds. 2) Rather, the ethnic violence we see in many places is part of a wider transformation that is suggested by the term culturalism. 2) Culturalism… is the conscious mobilization of cultural differences in the service of a larger national or transnational politics. It is frequently associated with extraterritorial histories and memories, sometimes with refugee status and exile, and almost always with struggles for stronger recognition from existing nation-states or from various transnational bodies (15). “counternational and metacultural”3) hatred or antagonism in the “neighborhood”

THE BUBBLE Characters

Noam

Ashraf (Shimi)

Lulu

Yali (as Alon Freidmann)

Golan –Yali’s boyfriend

Shaul —Lulu’s 2nd boyfriend

Sharon –Lulu’s 1st boyfriend

Rana, Ashraf's Sister

Jihad --brother-in-law

ETHNOSCAPE & MEDIASCAPE IN THE BUBBLE Mediascape --International journalist, Music and magazine

Ethnoscape – migration/passing of Palestinians; roads between Nablus & Tel Aviv; studying abroad

Ideoscape – checkpoint vs. "Rave against the occupation“

Technoscape – use of cell phones

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1) How are the “scapes” of flows interrelated, with conjunctures or disjunctures?2) Specifically, where do you find images of flows in the film? Do they suggest freedom? 3) What role does the mothers (of Noam and Ashraf) play? 4) What do you think about these young people, their love and their revolutionary ideals? Are they idealistic, or ineffectual? 5) How are the army, fundamentalist group and love/death interconnected? Why does Ashraf want to replace Jihad to drop the second bomb?6) What do you think about the final scene of explosion? Is it like sex as Noam says?7) Are there happy couples in the film? 8) How is the film compared with Incendies?

SPACES OF CONJUNCTURE & DISJUNCTUREGeographic Disjuncture: Check point, Jerusalem, Nablus, Tel AvivGeographic & Cultural Conjunctures:the roads, street signs The youths, their Westernized interests and signs

MEDIASCAPE The Younger Generation

MEDIASCAPE: MAGAZINE Go for the “sexy” and celeb culture: Every celebrity we choosegets a two-page spread,and recommends the hottestthings of the hour.And you get the cover.

MEDIASCAPE: NEW IDENTITY AND SEX IDOLS

29:01 What do you think about the characters’ fantasies

Noam: River Phoenix, Morrissey,

Chris Lowe from the Pet Shop Boys...

Ashraf: George Michael

Yali : Jason Orange

SOUND TRACK: VARIOUS ARTISTS*

Ivri Lider ( Israeli pop star)Song to the Sirens Long a float on shipless oceansI did all my best to smile'Til your singing eyes and fingersDrew me loving to your isleAnd you sangSail to me, sail to meLet me enfold youHere I am, here I amWaiting to hold you… (Ivri Lider: 1:19)

The bar scene: Ivri Lider - The Man I Love 36:17

The Others

Opening: Bright Eyes (American) -First Day Of My Life

Rave Party: Antiquex - Day Out / Close To You

Keren Ann (Israeli in France) -Chelsea Burns, Sit In the Sun

CONJUNCTURE (1): ANTI-OCCUPATION MOVEMENT AND THE USE OF SEX AS SIGNS

T-shirt, poster, Sticker & flyer

CONJUNCTURE (2): ANTI-OCCUPATION MOVEMENT AND PERSONAL REVENGEDivert their frustration onto the dishonest lover. Ashraf discovered by Sharon

Avoid talking about politics (00:21)

TEL AVIV: COLONIAL HISTORY

The European idiotswho built the city in the 1920; didn't know muchabout the Mediterranean.They put its back to the sea.Streets run parallel to the sea and block the breeze.

CHECKPOINT

1) a woman has a miscarriage; 2) [Jihad’s] father had a heart attack. His ambulance was stopped at checkpoint. 3) weak protest in front of the journalists

CHECKPOINT: CONJUNCTURE (2) ARMY + LOVE

Colonial gaze Under surveillance Recognition of

love

RAVE AGAINST OCCUPATION

We don't need the territories,we need to dance!

Rave against the occupation!A party for peace!

RAVE PARTY & ETHNOSCAPE

Lulu: l'm thinking of studying in New York next year. [Or maybe Paris.]Consequence of the party?

AFTER THE PARTY: CONJUNCTURE OF SEX AND WAR

1) Sex: Ashraf comes out of the closet to his sister, but gets rejected by her. 2) War: another suicide bombing at Tel Aviv Israeli soldiers kills A’s sister by accident 3) Sex & War: Ashraf becomes a suicide bomber.

SPACES OF CONNECTIONS

Jerusalem 1: 14; -->

l was very young when we left,l don't remember much.Maybe we were neighbors.-Yeah, something like that.Noam Missing the mother (Sarah)

Love and Death

Actor “Ashraf’s” interpretation

SPACES FOR CONNECTION: PLAY WITHIN THE PLAY: Bent

I LOVE TEL AVIV

CONCLUSIONRevenge on both personal and political levels: tragedyDisjuncture (checkpoint): leads to conjunction/connection of the two lovers Attempts at Conjuncture (Rave party): leads indirectly to their final separation and reunionWar + Love/Sex/Death

NY Beirut

WORKS CITED

Arjun Appadurai. Modernity At Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. U of Minnesota P, 1996.