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vendredi 22 février 2013

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Professor Daniela Berghahn, Department of Media Arts, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham TW20 OEX, United Kingdom

I am delighted to have been invited to contribute to the forthcoming conference on the Family in Cinema which will give me a unique opportunity to present my recent research on a particular type of family, namely immigrant and diasporic families in contemporary European cinema. In the age of globalisation, diasporic and other types of transnational family are increasingly represented in films such as Monsoon Wedding, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, East is East, Le Grand Voyage, Almanya – Welcome to Germany, Couscous and When We Leave. While there is a significant body of scholarship on the representation of the family in Hollywood cinema, the depiction of ethnic minority families in European cinema has so far received scant scholarly attention.

I see the preponderance of family narratives as related to the family’s dual function as a prime site of identity formation and as a trope of belonging. As cinema tends to depict social conflicts and historical transitions indirectly through affective relations in the family, the diasporic family on screen crystallises the emotionally ambivalent response to growing ethnic diversity in the West. Constructed as Other on account of their ethnicity, language and religion, diasporic families are frequently perceived as a threat to the social cohesion of Western societies. At the same time they embody a nostalgic longing for the traditional family, imagined in terms of extended kinship ties and superior family values. By affirming or challenging these prevalent media images, films about diasporic families make important contributions to wider socio-political debates about immigration, ethnic diversity, the success or failure of multiculturalism and even the rise of religious fundamentalism in Western societies.
For those interested in the topic, please take a look at my the website of my research project: http://www.farflungfamilies.net/
There you will find a wealth of resources, including a filmography, bibliography and podcasts of presentations and interviews.

LM

Thank you very much for your comment. Et à bientôt à La Rochelle.

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