Performing abjection in Wafaa Bilal’s domestic tension

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

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Official URL: https://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1379

Abstract

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.

Item Type:Article
Keywords:Domestic tension; Wafaa Bilal; Julia Kristeva; Abjection; Cyborg
Journal:3L ; Journal of Language, Linguistics and Literature
ID Code:16547
Deposited By: ms aida -
Deposited On:06 May 2021 00:45
Last Modified:10 May 2021 03:24

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