Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension

This paper is a psychoanalytic literary study of the online performance Domestic Tension (2007) by the Iraqi- American artist Wafaa Bilal. Fundamentally built on the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection is well suited to be the critical t...

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Main Author: Abdelfattah, Hany Ali Mahmoud
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16547/1/43261-151960-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16547/
https://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1379
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author Abdelfattah, Hany Ali Mahmoud
author_facet Abdelfattah, Hany Ali Mahmoud
author_sort Abdelfattah, Hany Ali Mahmoud
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description This paper is a psychoanalytic literary study of the online performance Domestic Tension (2007) by the Iraqi- American artist Wafaa Bilal. Fundamentally built on the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection is well suited to be the critical tool to analyse the online performance Domestic Tension. This paper questions the performance as a manifestation of abjection that espouses Bilal’s anti-Iraq War stance, by exposing the killing of thousands of Iraqis by the US drones. Furthermore, it investigates how the Brechtian theatrical techniques are used to restrain the cathartic experience of the viewers-cum-shooters, inviting them to ‘disavow’ Bilal’s body, abstain from any cannibalistic desires, and finally to think of the consequences of the US invasion of Iraq.
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institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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spelling my-ukm.journal.165472021-05-10T03:24:40Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16547/ Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension Abdelfattah, Hany Ali Mahmoud This paper is a psychoanalytic literary study of the online performance Domestic Tension (2007) by the Iraqi- American artist Wafaa Bilal. Fundamentally built on the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection is well suited to be the critical tool to analyse the online performance Domestic Tension. This paper questions the performance as a manifestation of abjection that espouses Bilal’s anti-Iraq War stance, by exposing the killing of thousands of Iraqis by the US drones. Furthermore, it investigates how the Brechtian theatrical techniques are used to restrain the cathartic experience of the viewers-cum-shooters, inviting them to ‘disavow’ Bilal’s body, abstain from any cannibalistic desires, and finally to think of the consequences of the US invasion of Iraq. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16547/1/43261-151960-1-PB.pdf Abdelfattah, Hany Ali Mahmoud (2021) Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 27 (1). pp. 22-33. ISSN 0128-5157 https://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1379
spellingShingle Abdelfattah, Hany Ali Mahmoud
Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension
title Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension
title_full Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension
title_fullStr Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension
title_full_unstemmed Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension
title_short Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension
title_sort performing abjection in wafaa bilal’s domestic tension
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16547/1/43261-151960-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16547/
https://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1379
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/