Between Reality and Documentary
A Historical Representation of Gaza Refugees in Colonial, Humanitarian and Palestinian Documentary Film
Erschienen am 20. Februar 2025
Buch
Hardcover
272 Seiten
978-0-7556-5310-2 (ISBN)
Beschreibung
This book investigates representations of Palestinian refugees in Gaza in colonial, humanitarian and Palestinian documentary films, spanning until the 1993 Oslo Agreement. Chapters examine various film sources throughout this period including British Pathe, newsreels, Quaker and UNRWA documentaries, and Palestinian opposition cinema.
British Pathe is considered as a window into the wider colonial depiction of indigenous Palestinians in the British Mandate period; newsreels are examined as representations of the plight of Palestinian refugees in Gaza after Israel's proclamation and Gaza-focused humanitarian documentaries shot by the Quakers and UNRWA are compared. The final chapters trace the evolution of oppositional documentary filmmaking, from the cinema of revolution (1968-1982) to the peace deal of 1993. Through a close audio-visual and textual analysis, rooted in a historical-contextual approach, Shahd Abusalama explores the techniques used to project emancipatory representations while highlighting shifts and variations in the imagery around Gaza refugees. In exploring the historical, ideologically fuelled, representations of Gaza and its refugees in colonial and humanitarian films, and the opposition to it, this book reaffirms the continuity of Palestinian resistance, refugees' call for return, and the importance of Gaza itself to the Palestinian struggle.
British Pathe is considered as a window into the wider colonial depiction of indigenous Palestinians in the British Mandate period; newsreels are examined as representations of the plight of Palestinian refugees in Gaza after Israel's proclamation and Gaza-focused humanitarian documentaries shot by the Quakers and UNRWA are compared. The final chapters trace the evolution of oppositional documentary filmmaking, from the cinema of revolution (1968-1982) to the peace deal of 1993. Through a close audio-visual and textual analysis, rooted in a historical-contextual approach, Shahd Abusalama explores the techniques used to project emancipatory representations while highlighting shifts and variations in the imagery around Gaza refugees. In exploring the historical, ideologically fuelled, representations of Gaza and its refugees in colonial and humanitarian films, and the opposition to it, this book reaffirms the continuity of Palestinian resistance, refugees' call for return, and the importance of Gaza itself to the Palestinian struggle.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This book offers a critical, original and urgent study of the historical ideological cinematic representations of Palestinian refugees, with a focus on Gazan refugees, from Mandatory Palestine until the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords. Through a detailed analysis of filmic representations, including the colonial newsreels of British Pathe, the book systematically addresses the competing discourses of imperial legacy that have contributed both to the "naturalisation", denigration and isolation of Palestinians as a subject people, while highlighting their consistent and continuing resistance. The book is a timely critical account that offers a counter narrative to the de-historicised language of colonial and settler colonial exceptionalism around Gaza and Palestine. * Professor Dina Matar, SOAS Centre for Palestine Studies, University of London * With incisive alertness to historical and aesthetic resonance, Between Reality and Documentary conscientiously exposes how different filmmaking practices - from the colonial to the humanitarian to the liberatory - each stake their claim on the territory of Gaza. Shahd Abusalama's scholarship powerfully exemplifies academic writing as anti-colonial activism. * Kay Dickinson, Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow * A crucial text for anyone interested in Palestine and its painful history under Zionist occupation, mapping the history of Gaza in the twentieth century through the illustrated perspective of documentary cinema representation. The rich, complex and vibrant story of Gaza is vividly told - a narrative of strength and perseverance against the odds - a struggle for modernity, liberation and justice. Reading this at the time of the Gaza genocide offers a special take on its crucial importance for a future, post-Zionist Palestinian democracy - highly readable and warmly recommended. * Professor Haim Bresheeth-Zabner, SOAS, University of London *Weitere Details
Reihe
Sprache
Englisch
Verlagsort
Großbritannien
Verlagsgruppe
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Zielgruppe
Für Beruf und Forschung
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Maße
Höhe: 236 mm
Breite: 162 mm
Dicke: 22 mm
Gewicht
560 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7556-5310-2 (9780755653102)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Person
Shahd Abusalama is an activist scholar, artist and writer, born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp, Gaza. She graduated from Sheffield Hallam University, UK, with a Ph.D. examining the historical representations of Gaza in documentary films between 1917 and 1993. She is the author of the Palestine from My Eyes blog and book, and a co-founder of London-based Hawiyya Dance Company.
Inhalt
Acknowledgements
Figures
Chronology of key events
Introduction
The Author's Positionality: And Still They Dance (2012)
Why Gaza? Historicising the Plight of Palestinian Refugees in Gaza
Theoretical Approaches
The Representation of Palestine in Film: A Historical Review
Methods and Selection
Overall structure of the Book
1. The Presence and Absence of Palestinians in Films During the British Mandate: The Case of British Pathe
Introduction
British Pathe and the British Empire
British Pathe's First Documentaries on Palestine
The Palestinian Great Revolt (1936-1939)
The End of the Mandate, 1946-1948: A Change or More of the Same?
Conclusion
2. Gaza's Palestinian Refugees Through the Pathe Lens
Introduction
Pathe and the Nakba
The Absent Presence of Gaza in 1940s Newsreels
1955-1957: Gaza and the Suez Crisis
The First Occupation of Gaza, 1956-1957
The Israeli Military Occupation of 1967
Conclusion
3. Humanitarian Representations of Gaza refugees: The Quakers' Case
Introduction
Historicising The Early Plight of Palestinian Refugees in Gaza (1948-1950)
The Quakers in Gaza: Western Humanitarianism Versus the Desire for Return
The AFSC Documentary Film Palestine (1949)
Conclusion
4. Western Humanitarianism and the UNRWA Visual Image
Introduction
Western Humanitarianism and Images of Suffering
UNRWA in Gaza and the Politics of the Archive
Inviting Sympathy in Sands of Sorrow (1950)
Conclusion
5. Gaza Refugees in the Cinema of Revolution (1968-1982)
Introduction
The Palestinian Cinema of Revolution
Scenes from the Occupation in Gaza (1973)
Conclusion
6. Gaza Refugees in Palestinian Filmmaking, 1982-1993
Introduction
Fourth Period Cinema: Post-Revolution Cinema?
Gaza from the 1980s to 1993
Gaza Ghetto (1985)
Filmmakers of the First Intifada in Gaza 225
Palestinian Diaries (1991) 227
Conclusion 236
Conclusion 238
Bibliography
Cited Filmography
Figures
Chronology of key events
Introduction
The Author's Positionality: And Still They Dance (2012)
Why Gaza? Historicising the Plight of Palestinian Refugees in Gaza
Theoretical Approaches
The Representation of Palestine in Film: A Historical Review
Methods and Selection
Overall structure of the Book
1. The Presence and Absence of Palestinians in Films During the British Mandate: The Case of British Pathe
Introduction
British Pathe and the British Empire
British Pathe's First Documentaries on Palestine
The Palestinian Great Revolt (1936-1939)
The End of the Mandate, 1946-1948: A Change or More of the Same?
Conclusion
2. Gaza's Palestinian Refugees Through the Pathe Lens
Introduction
Pathe and the Nakba
The Absent Presence of Gaza in 1940s Newsreels
1955-1957: Gaza and the Suez Crisis
The First Occupation of Gaza, 1956-1957
The Israeli Military Occupation of 1967
Conclusion
3. Humanitarian Representations of Gaza refugees: The Quakers' Case
Introduction
Historicising The Early Plight of Palestinian Refugees in Gaza (1948-1950)
The Quakers in Gaza: Western Humanitarianism Versus the Desire for Return
The AFSC Documentary Film Palestine (1949)
Conclusion
4. Western Humanitarianism and the UNRWA Visual Image
Introduction
Western Humanitarianism and Images of Suffering
UNRWA in Gaza and the Politics of the Archive
Inviting Sympathy in Sands of Sorrow (1950)
Conclusion
5. Gaza Refugees in the Cinema of Revolution (1968-1982)
Introduction
The Palestinian Cinema of Revolution
Scenes from the Occupation in Gaza (1973)
Conclusion
6. Gaza Refugees in Palestinian Filmmaking, 1982-1993
Introduction
Fourth Period Cinema: Post-Revolution Cinema?
Gaza from the 1980s to 1993
Gaza Ghetto (1985)
Filmmakers of the First Intifada in Gaza 225
Palestinian Diaries (1991) 227
Conclusion 236
Conclusion 238
Bibliography
Cited Filmography