Description
Book SynopsisIn this innovative volume, Mahdi offers a comparative analysis of three cinemas, yielding rich insights on the layers of representation and the ways in which those representations are challenged and disrupted.
Trade ReviewMahdi cleverly juxtaposes US, Egyptian, and Arab American cinematic representations of Arab belonging in America to enrich our understanding of cultural citizenship in the present day. Mahdi has written an exciting, original comparative analysis of how Arab Americans are portrayed in three genres: Hollywood cinema, Egyptian cinema, and Arab American cinema. . . .The book makes an important contribution to our understanding of how Othering is both constructed and challenged. Broad-ranging and sophisticated, this is an engaging, beautifully written analysis of the cultural production of Arab American identity in film, looking at examples from the US and the Middle East. A rich and detailed investigation of how cinematic images of Arab Americans have been forced to travel the globe to serve the agendas of others, and how they also yearn to be free.
