Negotiating the Lebanese national imaginary on and beyond the screen: an intertextual perspective on the film adaptation Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet

ABSTRACT

Most research on films as sites of nation-building centers on on-screen storylines, whereas intertextual references and off-screen representations of nationhood receive less attention. This article proposes a combined approach to further explore the nation-building potential of films, using as a case study the film adaptation Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. Through a close reading of the film in conjunction with its intertextual references and the filmmakers’ media interviews, the article explores the construction and negotiation of Lebanese nationhood and history under Ottoman rule. Special attention is paid to how the film’s production, funding, circulation and reception are related to nation-building.

KEYWORDS:

• Banal nationalism
• film
• intertextuality
• Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet
• Lebanese nationalism
• nation-building

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The name ‘Rahbani Brothers’ refers to both Assi Rahbani (1923–1986) and Mansour Rahbani (1925–2009) who were Lebanese composers and dramatists, best known for their work with Fairuz, Assi’s wife.

2 Maronite nationalism can mean so many things that a single definition is impossible. In pre-1920 Lebanon, Maronite nationalism referred to a political ideology that advocated the autonomy of Mount Lebanon as the homeland of Maronites. Following the creation of Greater Lebanon in 1920, this strand of nationalism came to be described as ‘political Maronitism’, a term used by the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt to describe Maronite elites’ attempts to achieve ‘domination of the Lebanese system’ (Sirriyeh, 1998, p. 56).

3 After Gibran’s demise in 1931, the copyrights to his artistic and literary production were transferred to his hometown of Bsharri where the Gibran National Committee was established to manage the copyrights. It also runs the Gibran National Museum, which features exhibits of his works and drawings.

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Hisham M. Ali

Hisham M. Ali is a research fellow at KU Leuven's Research Unit of Arabic Studies in Belgium. His research interests fall at the intersection of literature, translation, media, and nationalism in the Arab world.