Abstract
This essay analyzes how dance, gender, and state power function together as a significant node of critique in recent cultural production that addresses authoritarianism in Syria. Identifying the symbolic trope of dabke, a popular dance ubiquitous in Syrian life, selected films, literature, and choreography, this essay argues that the discussed works dislodge dabke from its feminized association with authenticity, folk culture, and nationhood to instead represent dabke as a form of hegemonic masculinity that perpetuates sovereignty, patriarchy, and autocracy. Through the rendering of embodied acts of dabke performance, hegemonic and resilient modes of masculinity are equated with spectacles of violence attached to the state, repressive tactics by the police state, and performative complicity with the regime. This essay argues that sovereign and autocratic forms of power are not universal abstractions but are embedded in the gendered structures of the society in which such power is performed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 197-219 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | Journal of Middle East Women's Studies |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 1 2021 |
Funding
The research and writing of this article were made possible by support from the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities at Northwestern University. I wish to thank Nathan Lamp for their efforts in refining the essay. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers with JMEWS for their immensely helpful comments and suggestions.
Keywords
- Authoritarianism
- Dance
- Masculinity
- Syria
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Gender Studies
- Cultural Studies
- History
- Sociology and Political Science