Marginalised Southern Iraqi Dances: Politics & Production in the 1980s

我的目标是开展一个民族志和历史项目，研究伊拉克的民俗产业，将其作为维护20世纪80年代民族国家叙事的工具。作为切入点，我的目标是观察伊拉克南部被边缘化的舞蹈形式，这些舞蹈形式尤其按照性别、阶级、种族和民族界限分层。尽管缺乏关于伊拉克边缘化舞蹈形式的官方档案，但YouTube拥有大量的“非官方”剧团和舞蹈聚会档案，这些档案可以追溯到上世纪80年代，当时在保护伊拉克地方和地区民间舞蹈方面投入了大量资金。然而，这些舞蹈往往被洗去了边缘化的根源。我的兴趣还在于这些视觉/档案形式的文件。我的目标是追踪不同的身份和权力动态，将这些不同的表现形式分层，并观察正在复制或可能被拆除的结构。

I aim to conduct an ethnographic and historical project examining the folkloric industry in Iraq as a tool for upholding nation-state narratives in the 1980s. As an entry point, I aim to look at marginalised dance forms in southern Iraq which are especially stratified along gendered, classed, racial and ethnic lines.Although there is a lack of official archives around marginalised dance forms in Iraq, YouTube holds a vast collection of "unofficial" archives of theatre troupes and dance gatherings dating back to the 80s when there was a heavier investment in preserving Iraqi folkloric dances, locally and regionally. Nevertheless, the dances were often sanitised of their marginalised roots.My interests also lie in these visual/archival forms of documentation. I aim to trace the various identity and power dynamics that stratify these different forms of representation and look at structures being reproduced or perhaps dismantled.