Gender, Nationalism, and War : Conflict on the Movie Screen

Virginia Woolf famously wrote 'as a woman I have no country', suggesting that women had little stake in defending countries where they are considered second-class citizens, and should instead be forces for peace. Yet women have been perpetrators as well as victims of violence in nationalist conflicts. This unique book generates insights into the role of gender in nationalist violence by examining feature films from a range of conflict zones. In The Battle of Algiers, female bombers destroy civilians while men dress in women's clothes to prevent the French army from capturing and torturing them. Prisoner of the Mountains shows a Chechen girl falling in love with her Russian captive as his mother tries to rescue him. Providing historical and political context to these and other films, Matthew Evangelista identifies the key role that economic decline plays in threatening masculine identity and provoking the misogynistic violence that often accompanies nationalist wars. Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Figures......Page 11 Preface......Page 13 1 Virginia Woolf’s purse......Page 17 War as a mostly male activity......Page 20 Hypotheses on gender, nationalism, and war......Page 27 Masculinity, femininity, and violence in the American Western......Page 33 Trailer: gender and nationalist violence on film......Page 37 2 Algeria: a world constructed out of ruins......Page 41 Colonial exploitation and discrimination......Page 43 Gender roles before the independence movement......Page 48 Origins of the Algerian war......Page 51 Subverting stereotypes in The Battle of Algiers......Page 55 Pontecorvo’s neorealism and its limits......Page 74 Algeria after independence......Page 79 The proliferation of small (misogynist) men......Page 82 Legacies of violence......Page 94 3 Yugoslavia: archetype or anomaly?......Page 96 Yugoslavia’s history: conflict and coexistence......Page 98 What constitutes difference? Bosnia’s ephemeral ethnicity......Page 102 Grievance and greed: economic sources of conflict......Page 106 Media manipulation: “Television was more important than history”......Page 111 Women and nationalism in Yugoslavia......Page 114 Gender and the wars......Page 119 Pretty Village, Pretty Flame......Page 130 4 Chechnya: virgins, mothers, and terrorists......Page 155 Two centuries of Russo-Chechen relations......Page 159 Solidifying stereotypes in Chechnya......Page 161 Socio-economic change and the demise of the Soviet model......Page 163 Chechnya’s bid for independence......Page 165 War after war......Page 167 Women, violence, and Islam......Page 172 Gender between tradition and modernity......Page 175 Sexual violence and the limits of peacemaking......Page 181 Chechnya on screen......Page 185 From romantic realism to crude caricature......Page 193 From “White Stockings” to “Black Widows”......Page 203 Gender role reversal and the promise of redemption......Page 208 5 Québec: oui, no, or femme......Page 219 Origins of French Canadian nationalism......Page 220 Women and the early nationalist movement......Page 225 The Quiet Revolution......Page 228 Language and sovereignty......Page 230 The FLQ and the October Crisis......Page 234 No: “The culture survives because of the mothers”......Page 239 Yvette and the 1980 referendum......Page 252 Choosing not to choose: “So what’s the problem?”......Page 258 6 “To live to see better times”: gender, nationalism, sovereignty, equality......Page 269 Nationalism......Page 271 Sovereignty......Page 275 Equality......Page 279 Sequel: gender and nationalist violence on film......Page 285 Index......Page 288 Preface -- Virginia Woolf's Purse -- Algeria : A World Constructed Out Of Ruins -- Yugoslavia : Archetype Or Anomaly? -- Chechnya : Virgins, Mothers, And Terrorists -- Québec : Oui, No, Or Femme -- 'to Live To See Better Times' : Gender, Nationalism, Sovereignty, Equality -- Sequel : Gender And Nationalist Violence On Film. Matthew Evangelista. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In an age of female suicide bombers, comfortable assumptions about the peaceful nature of women have become questionable. This book explores the relationship between gender and nationalist violence by examining feature films from zones of conflict around the world, including the 1966 classic, The Battle of Algiers.