Lesbianism in Contemporary Arab Cinema and Literature: Identities, Bodies, Spaces

这个项目探索当代(21世纪)阿拉伯电影和文学中女同性恋者的表现。它探索了女同性恋者的身体相对于它所占据的空间是如何表现的，并考察了阿拉伯文化空间中的二元性，这些空间将女同性恋主义定为刑事犯罪，但却忽视了女同性恋主义。这项研究探索了一个研究不足的话题；尽管阿拉伯世界关于性的文献中很好地描述了男性同性恋，但对于女同性恋的身体却不是这样。主题元素将集中在阿拉伯电影和文学文本中对女同性恋者的性爱和性别化，以及阿拉伯女同性恋者如何表现他们的性和宗教信仰、传统习俗、文化和家庭期望。我将研究女同性恋性、快感和亲密是如何为读者(文本)和观众(在电影中)框架的，以及女同性恋者的身体如何在不同的空间表现/体验它们。我还将探索这些(错误的)表现在多大程度上涵盖了女同性恋者欲望的全部范围，包括刻板印象/概括，如男性/女性二分法，以及实践，如扭结和BDSM。这是对当代阿拉伯电影和文学文本中女同性恋者表现的定性研究。我计划对我的主要电影来源和文学文本进行文化分析和同性恋女性主义分析，同时使用主题和叙事分析方法。我的主要来源在以前的研究中没有被研究过，在阿拉伯同性恋者，特别是女同性恋者身份的背景下，具有重要的社会和政治意义。我将分析总共6个电影来源，包括电影，短片，和一部纪录片。我还将分析包括小说和非小说作品在内的6个文学文本。女同性恋研究在学术研究中的代表性很低，在更广泛的非学术背景下往往被忽视。我的研究通过在当代阿拉伯电影和文学表现中提供对女同性恋者欲望、性和快乐的原创研究，与女同性恋者的隐形性作斗争。在学术界内外，由于对羞耻、禁忌、贞洁和荣誉的某些社会文化观念的限制，在阿拉伯背景下，参与围绕(同性恋)女性性的话题是有限的。因此，对这个话题的研究打破了沉默和抹去的文化和世代循环。我的研究为(阿拉伯)女同性恋者中介机构和身份政治提供了新的视角，这是扩大性别和性研究领域的学术研究和推动社会变革的内在因素，特别是通过打击阿拉伯文化禁忌和荣誉概念，这些往往围绕同性恋性行为展开。我的工作也为文化政策提供了信息，因为它涉及关注阿拉伯同性恋的文化机构和同性恋组织，特别是电影平台。

This project explores representations of lesbianism in contemporary (21st century) Arab cinema and literature. It explores how the lesbian body performs in relation to the space it occupies, and examines the duality in Arab cultural spaces as spaces that criminalise yet overlook lesbianism. The research explores an understudied topic; whilst male homosexuality is well represented in the literature on sexuality in the Arab world, the same cannot be said about lesbian bodies. The thematic elements that will be focused on are the eroticisation and sexualisation of lesbians in Arab films and literary texts and how Arab lesbians (un)perform their sexuality and religiosity, traditional customs, and cultural and familial expectations.I will examine how lesbian sex, pleasure, and intimacy are framed for the reader (in text) and spectator (in film) and how the lesbian body performs/experiences them in different spaces. I will also explore the extent to which these (mis)representations encompass the full scope of lesbian desire, including stereotypes/generalizations such as the butch/femme dichotomy, and practices such as kink and BDSM.This is a qualitative study of representations of lesbianism in contemporary Arab films and literary texts. I plan to conduct cultural analysis and queer-feminist analysis of my primary cinematic sources and literary texts while using thematic and narrative analytical approaches. My primary sources have not been studied in previous research and are socially and politically significant within the context of Arab queer and particularly lesbian identities. I will analyse a total of 6 cinematic sources that include films, short films, and a documentary. I will also analyse 6 literary texts that include fiction and non-fiction writings. Lesbian studies are underrepresented in academic research and are often overlooked in broader non-academic contexts. My research combats lesbian invisibility by offering an original study of lesbian desire, sex, and pleasure in contemporary Arab cinematic and literary representations. Within and beyond academia, engaging in topics that revolve around (queer) female sexuality in Arab contexts is restricted due to certain sociocultural perceptions of shame, taboo, chastity, and honour. Thus, researching this topic breaks cultural and generational cycles of silencing and erasure. My research offers new perspectives on (Arab) lesbian agency and identity politics which is intrinsic to expanding scholarship in the field of gender and sexuality studies and instigating social change, particularly through combating Arab cultural taboos and conceptions of honour which often revolve around queer sexualities. My work also informs cultural policy as it concerns cultural institutes and queer organisations that focus on Arab queerness, particularly cinematic platforms.