top of page
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute
Asian Institute of Research, Journal Publication, Journal Academics, Education Journal, Asian Institute

Journal of Social and Political

Sciences

ISSN 2615-3718 (Online)

ISSN 2621-5675 (Print)

asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
asia insitute of research, journal of social and political sciences, jsp, aior, journal publication, humanities journal, social journa
crossref
doi
open access

Published: 08 October 2024

Ruffling and Un-Ruffling Feathers: Magical Realism as a Tool of Postcolonial Dissent and Transcendence

Lawrie Phillips, Aida Abd El Rehim

British University in Egypt

journal of social and political sciences
pdf download

Download Full-Text Pdf

doi

10.31014/aior.1991.07.04.519

Pages: 1-11

Keywords: Feathers, Postcolonial Dissent, Transcendence, Magical Realism

Abstract

This paper claims that the Egyptian movie, Feathers (El Zohairy 2021) uses the genre of magical realism as a tool of postcolonial dissent and transcendence: by providing insight into social injustice, by transcending norms and realities, and by deflecting censorship. The paper argues that Feathers has used magical realism to both provoke (ruffle) and deflect (un-ruffle) political outrage. This movie depicts the liberating journey of a rural housewife whose bullying husband has been magically turned into a chicken, relentlessly echoing the traditional Egyptian proverb that ‘one woman is worth a hundred men’ (‘El sett B 100 ragel’). The film received international critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival. But nationalistic critics and directors have used post-colonial discourse to accuse its director of Othering and belittling Egypt. This paper in contrast uses multimodal discourse analysis to explore the ways in which Feathers uses magical realism to highlight and personalize and transcend the social injustice in Egypt, and in the Third World. On the other hand, Feathers deflects political outrage by using magical realism to locate its characters and plot in the past, by depicting local businesses rather than transnational investments and megaprojects, and by exploring the magic of personal transformation. By using magical realism as a tool of postcolonial dissent and transcendence, the director has portrayed important truths behind Egyptian norms and realities, and at the same time miraculously protected both the movie and himself.

References

  1. Abdel Nasser, T. (2015), ‘Revolution and Cien años de soledad in Naguib Mahfouz's Layālī alf laylah’ (In) Comparative Literature Studies, 52:3, pp. 539-561.

  2. Abu Jweid, A. N. A. (2020), ‘Naguib Mahfouz’s Arabian Nights and Days: The Allegorical Sequel of The Arabian Nights’ (In) Studies in Literature and Language, 21(2), pp. 91-100.

  3. Alshehri, A. (2022), The Marvellous Real in the Middle East: A Comparative Study of Magical Realism in Contemporary Women’s Fiction, PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.

  4. Bennett, C. J. (1999), Politics and Poetics of Magical Realism in Latin America, PhD thesis, Goldsmith College, University of London.

  5. Bhabha, H. K. (1990), Nation and narration, London: Routledge.

  6. Bhattacharya, S. (2020), Magic and Realism in South Asia (In) C. Warnes & K. A. Sasser (Eds.), Magical Realism and Literature, Cambridge University Press.

  7. Block, B. (2007), The visual story: creating the visual structure of film, TV and visual media, Focal Press.

  8. Bowers, M. A. (2004), Magic(al) Realism, Routledge.

  9. Hart, S.  M. & Ouyang, W. (2005), A companion to magical realism, Woodbridge: Tamesis.

  10. Cooper, B. (2012), Magical Realism in West African Fiction, Routledge.

  11. Chanady, A. B. (1985), Magical Realism and the Fantastic: Resolved Versus Unresolved Antinomy, Routledge.

  12. El Ahram (2021), ‘In Photos: Egypt's Culture Ministry honours makers of Feathers film after Cannes’ triumph,’ 3 August,

  13. https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/32/418324/Arts--Culture/Screens/In-Photos-Egypts-Culture-Ministry-honours-makers-o.aspx

  14. Faris, W. B. (1995), Scheherazade’s Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction (In) L. P. Zamora & W. Faris (Eds.), Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, Duke University Press.

  15. Flores, A. (1995), Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction (In) L. P. Zamora & W. Faris (Eds.), Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, Duke University Press.

  16. García Márquez, G. (1967), One Hundred Years of Solitude, Penguin.

  17. Ghazal, A. (2018), Egyptian Cinema and the 2011 Revolution, PhD thesis, University of Auckland.

  18. Halliday, M. (1978), Language as Social Semiotic, London: Arnold.

  19. Inanç, Z. (2020), ‘The function of magical realism in contemporary women’s fiction: Jeanette Winterson’s The passion, Laura Esquivel’s Like water for chocolate and Isabel Allende’s The house of the spirits,’ MA Thesis, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

  20. Kress, G. (2011), ‘Multimodal discourse analysis’ (In) J. P. Gee, M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge.

  21. Lang, C. (2020), Magical Realism in Transnational Cinema, PhD thesis, York University, Toronto, Canada.

  22. Leal, L. (1995), ‘Magical Realism in Spanish American Literature’ (In) L. P. Zamora & W. Faris (Eds.), Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, Duke University Press.

  23. Mahfouz, N. (1995), Arabian Nights and Days, AUC Press.

  24. Marx, K. (1867), Capital,

  25. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch31.htm#n15 Mendoza, A. and Thomas, T. (2019), ‘Literary and Visual Rememory at the 90th Anniversary of the Banana Massacre in Colombia’ (In) Zapruder World Journal, 5, http://zapruderworld.org/journal/archive/volume-5/

  26. Morrison, T. (2007), Beloved, Vintage.

  27. Mustanir, A. (2015), Magical realism and social protest in Gabriel García Márquez, PhD thesis, International Islamic University of Islamabad.

  28. Ousby, I. (1993), The Cambridge guide to literature in English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  29. Parker, M. & Starkey, R. (1995), ‘Introduction’ (In) M. Parker & R. Starkey (Eds.), Postcolonial literatures: Achebe, Ngugi, Desai, Walcott, London: MacMillan Press Ltd.

  30. Pauletto, S. (2012), ‘The sound design of cinematic voices’ (In) The New Soundtrack, 2(2):127-42.

  31. Phillips, L. and Ghalwash, M. (2019), Brothers in arms: Visual commonalities between US and IS recruitment strategies, Journal of Media, War and Conflict, November, https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219887775

  32. Rushdie, S. (1980), Midnight’s Children, Vintage.

  33. Rodgers, J. C. (2001), ‘Magical realism’ (In) Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies, Westport Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

  34. Roh, F. (1995). ‘Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism’ (In) L. P. Zamora & W. Faris (Eds.), Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, Duke University Press.

  35. The Arab Weekly (2021), ‘Egyptian film ruffles feathers, triggers debate on poverty,’ 21 October,

  36. https://thearabweekly.com/egyptian-film-ruffles-feathers-triggers-debate-poverty

  37. The National News (2021), 'Feathers: Omar El Zohairy on winning at Critics' Week in Cannes 2021,’ 18 July,

  38. https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/2021/07/18/feathers-omar-el-zohairy-on-winning-at-critics-week-in-cannes-2021/

  39. https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/film/2022/05/23/egypts-feathers-wins-big-at-cannes-critics-awards-for-arab-films/

  40. The New Arab (2021), ‘Egyptian film Feathers garners mixed reviews in Egypt despite Cannes success,’ 24 October,

  41. https://www.newarab.com/news/egyptian-film-feathers-garners-mixed-reviews-egypt

  42. Warnes, C. (2005), ‘Naturalizing the supernatural: Faith, irreverence and magical realism’ (In) Literature Compass, 2, 20C, 106, pp. 1-16.

  43. Zamora, L. P., & Faris, W. B. (1995), Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.

bottom of page