Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-315) and index.
Contents:
History of Lebanese television and the television-audience relationship -- The war triangle : from disengagement to engagement on the news -- Télé liban : the peace bubble and the crisis of legitimacy -- Audiences : sarcasm, the new hero of television, and the components of modern legitimacy -- LBC : an illegitimate militia seeks legitimacy in participating audiences and accommodating media -- Language politics and gender politics on entertainment television -- Télé liban in defense of fusha -- LBC and language pessoptimism -- War, modernity, and the crisis of patriarchy -- Conclusion : the case for the study of Lebanese broadcast television.
Summary:
How did a new, irresistible brand of television emerge from the Lebanese Civil War (1975-91) to conquer the Arab region in the satellite era? What role did seductive news anchors, cool language teachers, superheroes, and gossip magazines play in negotiating a modern relationship between television and audiences? How did the government lose its television monopoly to sectarian militias? Pretty Liar tells the untold story of the coevolution of Lebanese television and its audience, and the ways in which the Civil War of 1975-91 influenced that transformation. Based on empirical data, Khazaal explores the rise of language and gender politics in Lebanese television and the storm of controversy during which these issues became a referendum on television's relevance. This groundbreaking book challenges the narrow focus on present-day satellite television and social media, offering the first account of how broadcast television transformed media legitimacy in the Arab world. With its analysis of news, entertainment, and educational shows from Télé Liban and LBC, novels, periodicals, and popular culture, Pretty Liar demonstrates how television became a site for politics and political resistance, feminism, and the cradle of the postwar Lebanese culture. The history of television in Lebanon is not merely a record of corporate technology but the saga of a people and their continuing demand for responsive media during times of civil unrest.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.