Nationalism and Otherness

Abstract

This article focuses on the representation of Islamic fundamentalism in contemporary Egyptian films. It aims to go beyond orientalism-based studies consumed with analysing the West’s representation of, and thus power over, the East. The article problematizes discourses examining fundamentalism’s role as the West’s Other and the source of its identity by analysing the complicated political role that fundamentalism plays in Egypt as an ‘Islamic’ democracy. Islamic fundamentalism is explored as an Other in Egyptian cinema that is used as a tool for strengthening Egyptian national identity. The article thus reveals the cultural tensions and power struggles present within Egypt as a nation caught between modernity and extremism. The article’s highlighting of the processes of Otherness within the ‘East’ itself reveals the limitation of the idea of an East/West dichotomy.