Cohen, N.; (2006) Different Shadows: Gay Representation in Israeli Cinema. Doctoral thesis , University of London.

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Abstract

Different Shadows: Gay Representation in Israeli Cinema studies the role of cinema in the rise of Israeli gay consciousness over the past three decades. One aim of this research is to map Israeli gay cinema by situating it in relation to other Israeli and non-Israeli films, the hegemonic values of dominant Israeli culture and the idea/1 of a unified Israeli gay community. Another aim is to explore the ways in which cinema, as a primary source of gay cultural production in Israel, has defined gay identity and community since the late 1970s. The thesis brings together two objects of study. One is Israeli society, including the gay movement. This branch of the research studies the history of the gay movement and the incorporation of gay men and lesbians into the Israeli public sphere. The other is Israeli cinema, including production and distribution apparatuses as well as the film texts themselves. This branch examines representations of gay life on the screen along the axes of ethnicity, gender, nation and religion, the reception of films both in Israel and abroad, and matters of censorship. The thesis focuses on the mutual influences these two objects of study have on one another, namely the way in which cinema has contributed to the promotion of gay causes in Israel, and the way in which gay concerns have enriched Israeli films both visually and thematically. The project crosses and links various disciplines and encompasses different approaches to the films. Combining film theory, institutional and textual analysis, employing the tools of post-colonialism and queer theory as well as theories of race, nation and feminist criticism, I attend to the complexities of the representation of gay culture and identity and its organization and legibility through culture.

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