Waltzing with Bashir: Perpetrator Trauma and Cinema

292 Pages·2013·9.839 MB·English

by  Raya Morag

Raya Morag is an Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at the
Department of Communication and Journalism, The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, Israel.
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WALTZING WITH
BASHIR
Perpetrator Trauma and Cinema
R M
AYA ORAG
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Published in 2013 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada
Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © 2013 Raya Morag
The right of Raya Morag to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by the
author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof,
may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
International Library of the Moving Image 11
ISBN 978 1 78076 264 7
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress catalog card: available
Typeset by Newgen Publishers, Chennai
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
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For my sister
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments viii
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
Introduction: From Victim to Perpetrator Trauma 1
Part I: Victim Trauma
1. The Body as the Battlefield 35
2. Chronic Victim Trauma and Terror 72
3. Queerness, Ethnicity, and Terror 100
Part II: Perpetrator Trauma
4. The New Wave of Documentary Cinema:
The Male Perpetrator 129
5. The New Wave of Documentary Cinema:
The Female Perpetrator 154
6. The New Wave of Documentary Literature 180
Conclusion: The Perpetrator Complex 211
Notes 219
Works Cited 247
Further Reading 261
Filmography 266
Index 269
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book completes a journey into the heart of cinema trauma. The
journey began with my prior research that delved into two post-
traumatic cinematic cultures – German and American – which to a
great extent defined my twentieth-century Jewish-Israeli identity. The
first decade of the twenty-first century and its consequent transfor-
mation of the rules of war inevitably led me to deal with my own
post- traumatic culture. Being an Israeli on the Left in the era of
ongoing Israeli occupation of the Territories, and personally facing
Palestinian suicide attacks, makes my subject position complex, yet
clear. Providing a thorough interpretation of the unbearable realities
of both victims and perpetrators became, by and through the writ-
ing of this book, an identity challenge that went beyond my scholarly
aims.
My heartfelt thanks to all the people who helped me during the
writing of this book. To Prof. Avner de Shalit, the Dean of the Faculty
of Social Sciences at the Hebrew University Jerusalem for his extraor-
dinary humanity, support, and willingness to provide assistance in
any way. Likewise to the head of the Communication and Journalism
Department, Prof. Menahem Blondheim, for his illuminating and
wise suggestions, his full support, and for the invariably interesting
discussions. To Prof. Tamar Liebes and especially Prof. Ifat Maoz for
their continuous help and strong support. To my colleagues in the
Communication and Journalism Department, especially Prof. Elihu
Katz, Prof. Etti Shelly-Newman, and Dr. Zohar Kampf. A special
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
thanks also goes to Prof. Nurith Gertz and Prof. Mihal Friedman for
their invaluable assistance at every stage.
My gratitude to Prof. Brian Winston for cheerfully volunteering his
assistance throughout; as well as Prof. Daniel Dayan, Prof Bill Nichols,
Prof. Michael Renov, and Prof. Philip Rosen. Thanks to Prof. Linda
Williams for her generosity and warm assistance. I owe a special debt
of gratitude to Prof. Janet Walker for her invaluable help and the many
hours we spent in inspiring conversations.
Thanks to Prof. Yeshayahu Nir for our deep friendship throughout the
years, his unstinting support and help, always with a touch of humor.
For help in obtaining the films, I am grateful to the Rabinovich
Foundation for the Arts/ Cinema Project and its General Manager Giora
Einy, to Yoav Abramovich and Ronit Kenan. Thanks to the Israeli
Documentary Filmmakers Forum, the Jerusalem Cinematheque, The
Israel Film Fund and its Executive Director Katriel Schory. Thank you to
directors Tawfik Abu-Wael, Idan Alterman, Vidi Bilu, Amit Drori, Dalia
Hager, Ari Folman, Eytan Fox, Dov Gil-Har, Aron Goldfinger, Nurit
Kedar, Yair Kedar, Amos Kollek, Yair Lev, Eliav Lilti, Avi Mograbi,
David Ofek, Yael Perlov, Eran Riklis, and Tamar Yarom for their cooper-
ation. Thanks to Gal Uchovsky, Micha Shagrir – Tapuz Communications
and the Moments Project, to Buzz Films, to Yehuda Biton Productions, to
Arik Barnshtein – Lama Production, Haim Mecklberg and Esti Ya’akov–
Mecklberg – 2team Productions, and Transfax Productions.
Thanks to Helene Landau, my English editor, for the invaluable
assistance she provided in bringing the book to press. Her unstinting
devotion and uncompromising professionalism was felt every step of
the way. Thanks to my student Avichay Sharon, a founder of Breaking
the Silence, for his invaluable help, and my student Noa Alfia for her
assistance. Thanks to Gal Yaniv from the multimedia center at the
Hebrew University for always volunteering his help.
Many thanks to Maria Marsh, the I.B.Tauris Middle East editor,
and to Liza Thompson, the I.B.Tauris Visual Culture series editor.
Thanks to Hannah Wilks for meticulous language editing and pre-
paring the index.
To my extended family and friends, thank you for your love and
support. And my wonderful daughters Reout and Rotem. This book is
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x WALTZING WITH BASHIR
dedicated with love and appreciation to my sister, Shiffi Shmueli. And
in memory of my dear friends Bilha Ben-David and Gary Bornstein.
My thanks to the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Hebrew
University for their generous support in funding this research; to the
Levi Eshkol Institute for Social, Economic and Political Research in
Israel at the Hebrew University; and the Smart Family Foundation
Communications Institute at the Hebrew University for funding this
research.
Shorter versions of chapters 1-3 appeared in the Journal of Film and
Video, Framework, and the International Journal of Communication respec-
tively. A shorter version of chapters 4-5 appeared in Camera Obscura.
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