Devi, Gayatri and Najat Rahman, eds.: "Humor in Middle Eastern Cinema."(Book review)

• Author: Yunis, Alia

Devi, Gayatri and Najat Rahman, eds. Humor in Middle Eastern Cinema. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2014.

Just as the definition of comedy can be broadly interpreted, so too can be the definition of the Middle East. The collection of scholarly essays found in Humor in Middle Eastern Cinema extends the region from Turkey to Pakistan, with each chapter exploring one popular film maker, national cinema, or film. The essays analyze humor in film that makes one laugh, or at least smile, primarily with irony and sarcasm. Consisting of nine essays, with three dedicated to Iran, the book rarely explores broad, slapstick comedy, outside of an analysis of comic stereotypes of ethnic groups in Israeli cinema. Unlike the other nations' films, these stereotypes easily trigger comparisons to American comedies and their ethnic tropes, distancing Israel cinematically from its Arab and Muslim neighbors. What comes across through cinema is that Israel, which has its roots in Europe, does not suffer...