Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices (Next Wave: New Directions in Womens Studies)

__Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices__brings together for the first time a selection of trailblazing essays by Ella Shohat, an internationally renowned theorist of postcolonial and cultural studies of Iraqi-Jewish background. Written over the past two decades, these twelve essays—some classic, some less known, some new—trace a powerful intellectual trajectory as Shohat rigorously teases out the consequences of a deep critique of Eurocentric epistemology, whether to rethink feminism through race, nationalism through ethnicity, or colonialism through sexuality.Shohat’s critical method boldly transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries. She explores such issues as the relations between ethnic studies and area studies, the paradoxical repercussions for audio-visual media of the “graven images” taboo, the allegorization of race through the refiguring of Cleopatra, the allure of imperial popular culture, and the gender politics of medical technologies. She also examines the resistant poetics of exile and displacement; the staging of historical memory through the commemorations of the two 1492s, the anomalies of the “national” in Zionist discourse, the implications of the hyphen in the concept “Arab-Jew,” and the translation of the debates on orientalism and postcolonialism across geographies.__Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices__not only illuminates many of the concerns that have animated the study of cultural politics over the past two decades; it also points toward new scholarly possibilities. Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices brings together for the first time a selection of trailblazing essays by Ella Shohat, an internationally renowned theorist of postcolonial and cultural studies of Iraqi-Jewish background. Written over the past two decades, these twelve essays—some classic, some less known, some new—trace a powerful intellectual trajectory as Shohat rigorously teases out the consequences of a deep critique of Eurocentric epistemology, whether to rethink feminism through race, nationalism through ethnicity, or colonialism through sexuality.Shohat’s critical method boldly transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries. She explores such issues as the relations between ethnic studies and area studies, the paradoxical repercussions for audio-visual media of the “graven images” taboo, the allegorization of race through the refiguring of Cleopatra, the allure of imperial popular culture, and the gender politics of medical technologies. She also examines the resistant poetics of exile and displacement; the staging of historical memory through the commemorations of the two 1492s, the anomalies of the “national” in Zionist discourse, the implications of the hyphen in the concept “Arab-Jew,” and the translation of the debates on orientalism and postcolonialism across geographies. Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices not only illuminates many of the concerns that have animated the study of cultural politics over the past two decades; it also points toward new scholarly possibilities. Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices brings together for the first time a selection of trailblazing essays by Ella Shohat, an internationally renowned theorist of postcolonial and cultural studies of Iraqi-Jewish background. Written over the past two decades, these twelve essayssome classic, some less known, some newtrace a powerful intellectual trajectory as Shohat rigorously teases out the consequences of a deep critique of Eurocentric epistemology, whether to rethink feminism through race, nationalism through ethnicity, or colonialism through sexuality. Shohats critical method boldly transcends disciplinary and geographical boundaries. She explores such issues as the relations between ethnic studies and area studies, the paradoxical repercussions for audio-visual media of the graven images taboo, the allegorization of race through the refiguring of Cleopatra, the allure of imperial popular culture, and the gender politics of medical technologies. She also examines the resistant poetics of exile and displacement; the staging of historical memory through the commemorations of the two 1492s, the anomalies of the national in Zionist discourse, the implications of the hyphen in the concept Arab-Jew, and the translation of the debates on orientalism and postcolonialism across geographies. Taboo Memories, Diasporic Voices not only illuminates many of the concerns that have animated the study of cultural politics over the past two decades; it also points toward new scholarly possibilities. CONTENTS 8 Illustrations 10 Preface 14 Gendered Cartographies of Knowledge: Area Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Postcolonial Studies 24 Gender and the Culture of Empire: Toward a Feminist Ethnography of the Cinema 40 Sacred Word, Profane Image: Theologies of Adaptation 93 The Cinema after Babel: Language, Difference, Power (with Robert Stam) 129 ‘‘Lasers for Ladies’’: Endo Discourse and the Inscriptions of Science 162 Disorienting Cleopatra: A Modern Trope of Identity 189 Taboo Memories, Diasporic Visions: Columbus, Palestine, and Arab-Jews 224 Notes on the ‘‘Post-Colonial’’ 256 Post-Fanon and the Colonial: A Situational Diagnosis 273 Post–Third Worldist Culture: Gender, Nation, and the Cinema 313 Rupture and Return: Zionist Discourse and the Study of Arab-Jews 353 The ‘‘Postcolonial’’ in Translation: Reading Edward Said between English and Hebrew 382 Index 408 Gendered Cartographies Of Knowledge : Area Studies, Ethnic Studies, And Postcolonial Studies -- Gender And The Culture Of Empire : Toward A Feminist Ethnography Of The Cinema -- Sacred Word, Profane Image : Theologies Of Adaptation -- The Cinema After Babel: Language, Difference, Power (with Robert Stam) -- Lasers For Ladies : Endo Discourse And The Inscriptions Of Science -- Disorienting Cleopatra : A Modern Trope Of Identity -- Taboo Memories, Diasporic Visions : Columbus, Palestine, And Arab-jews -- Notes On The Post-colonial -- Post-fanon And The Colonial : A Situational Diagnosis -- Post-third Worldist Culture : Gender, Nation, And The Cinema -- Rupture And Return : Zionist Discourse And The Study Of Arab-jews -- The Postcolonial In Translation : Reading Edward Said Between English And Hebrew. Ella Shohat. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The first collection of essays by Ella Shohat, an internationally renowned theorist of transnational feminism and anti-imperialism