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Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

 
Venue: 
Rooms 8 & 9, Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
Event date: 
Tuesday, 11 June, 2019 - 17:00 to 19:00

Hebrew Studies Seminar Series talk by Dr Menna Abukhadra, Israel Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge

All are welcome, and we are looking forward to see you there!

[ poster ]

If you would like to attend this free event, please book yourself in at the online registration.

Jews have been always part of the Egyptian society, and have always played a prominent role in Egyptian Film and TV since their early beginnings. Despite the fact that Jews represent a small minority in Egypt with their numbers dropping over the years as a result of the evolution of political events in the Middle East during the past century (the Jewish population of Egypt was estimated at less than 20 in 2017), interestingly, Jews have been always present on the Egyptian screen. Dr Abukhadra will be giving a talk about her ongoing research in this area.

This lecture will trace the evolution of the image of Jews in Egyptian film and television during the past century, with a focus on the prominent roles Jews played as actors, directors and producers in the early beginnings of the 20th century. It will also examine the transformation that occurred to the image of Jews in Egyptian film and television from being represented as a minority in Egypt before the establishment of Israel to being represented as “the enemy” after. The lecture will also compare between the representation of Jews from being an ethnic group with linguistic differences as khawagas (foreigners) for the sake of comic catharsis, into a group of spies and members of Israeli army after the establishment of Israel as part of their representation in the post-war patriotic movies. In addition, this lecture will compare between the effect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the image of Jews in Egyptian film and television during war times to their image after the Egypt-Israel peace treaty in 1979. Moreover, it will discuss the impact of the Arab Spring on the Image of Jews in Egyptian Media during the past decade. At the heart of this research is a discussion of the strong impact of the Egyptian film and TV on the Egyptian public opinion towards Jews, and how it shifted over the years towards more objectivity and less stereotyping.

Menna Abukhadra is the Israel Institute Postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, and a Lecturer of Hebrew Language and literature at Cairo University. She was awarded her B.A in Oriental languages and Literature, M.A and PhD in Modern Hebrew language and Literature from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. Her primary research interests include studying the relation between Modern Hebrew literature and Jewish Heritage, Israel Studies in the Arab world, and the evolution of the Image of Israel in the Egyptian context. She is currently working on her research project “Israel Studies or Enemy Studies? An Analytical Study of the Development of Israel Studies in Egyptian Universities”


For further information contact:

Dr Menna Abukhadra
Israel Institute Post-doctoral Fellow
E-mail:
 mzmha2@cam.ac.uk