Charlotte Kaufman
Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures
“On the Meaning(s) of Representing Islamic Radicalization in Cinema: a Case Study from Yemen”
The narrative fictional film “The Losing Bet” produced in Yemen in 2008 attempts to tackle the causes and effects of radicalization and terrorism. Funded entirely by the government, it stands as part of a larger culturally- based anti-terrorism campaign. As such, it represents an appropriate space in which to examine the discourse on terrorism in Yemen. From June to August 2010, I conducted numerous interviews in the capitol city Sana’a with journalists, government officials, college and high school students, street vendors and religious leaders, recording their reactions to the film. From these interviews a few central themes and issues emerged. An almost unanimous critique of the film, heard across all the varying demographics of my participants, centered on its exaggerating tendencies and lack of nuance. Some pointed to the stereotypical costume of the radicals (white short thobes, long beards, kalashnikovs hung over their shoulders), others to the shortness of time and ease with which the characters were drawn into the folds of radical groups.
Many concluded that the film was intended as a publicity stunt to appease western powers and attract more funds for anti-terrorism campaigns, while others went further to insist it was in fact an American production. One local ruling party representative took particular offense to the title “The Losing Bet”, complaining that it referred to Islam not terrorism. Thus, the discussions of “The Losing Bet” provided one space within which the prominent definitions of hackneyed terms could be contested and altered.
These reactions all point to the instability of a state-endorsed narrative on terrorism, and invites investigation into the challenges faced by a political power in locating a compelling and assertive rhetoric in the shadow of its involvement in the global war on terrorism. An apparent challenge for the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh is to find a balance between two competing discourses on terrorism: the discourse of the west or more specifically America (with whom they are militarily allied and financially dependent) and the discourse which exists amongst the Yemeni population which is informed by adjacent local and regional issues such as the Houthi Rebellion in Sada’a, the separatist movement in the South, Saudi-Yemeni relations, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in addition to personal memories of participation in the Afghanistan insurgency against the Soviet Union.
In my thesis I will further explore and attempt to substantiate the dynamics of these competing discourses by comparing an analysis of the “The Losing Bet” — which is based on my interviews, newspaper and magazine articles as well as internet forum and Facebook postings on the subject of the film — with an analysis of other mediums of state narrative, such as presidential speeches, pamphlets, and publications from social and charity organizations funded by the government.