Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-266)
Contents:
What every driver must know / Alise Alousi -- Bifurcations of Iraq's visual culture / Nada Shabout -- A barbarian in Rome: excerpts from a diary / Sinan Antoon -- Putting contemporary Iraqi art on the map: a conversation with Maysaloun Faraj / Nadje Al-Ali -- The assassination of Iraqi academic life: a personal testimony / Saad N. Jawad -- My own private Munich / Dahlia Petrus -- Hassan Abdulrazzak: a selection / Hassan Abdulrazzak -- Reframing Sunni and Shii discussions / Yara Badday -- Invisible mirror: aggression and the thumb-generation response / Wafaa Bilal -- Iraq: a long phantasmagorical dream for those who are not part of the new capitalism or retired communism / Ali Bader -- Migratory sacred spaces: (re)creating Ash¿±r♯ơ -- Dena Al-Adeeb -- Liberal mass media (mis)communication and Iraqi (dis)connections / Celia Shallal -- Sophisticated ways: destruction of an ancient city / Nadje Al-Ali -- My trips to the unknown / Maki Al Nazzal -- A tale of two exiles / Sama Alshaibi -- 1001 nights / Jananne Al-Ani -- Arab-Jews, diasporas, and multicultural feminism: a conversation with Ella Habiba Shohat / Evelyn Azeeza Alsultany -- A film-training project for young Iraqis / Maysoon Pachachi -- Lyrical resistance: the example of Saadi Youssef / Ferial J. Ghazoul -- Larsa / Dunya Mikhail -- Ur's echo: cosmopolitans and radical loss / Rashad Salim -- Identity of the numbers / Irada Al-Jabbouri.
Summary:
While the occupation of Iraq and its aftermath has received media and political attention, we know very little about the everyday lives of Iraqis. Iraqi men, women, and children are not merely passive victims of violence, vulnerable recipients of repressive regimes, or bystanders of their country's destruction. In the face of danger and trauma, Iraqis continue to cope, preparing food, sending their children to school, socializing, telling jokes, and dreaming of a better future. Within the realm of imagination and creative expression, the editors find that many Iraqi artists have not only survived but have also sought healing. In We Are Iraqis, Al-Ali and Al-Najjar showcase written and visual contributions by Iraqi artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, photographers, and activists. Contributors explore the way Iraqis retain, subvert, and produce art and activism as ways of coping with despair and resisting chaos and destruction. The first anthology of its kind, We Are Iraqis brings into focus the multitude of ethnicities, religions, and experiences that are all part of Iraq.
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.