Presentations in Comparative Literature and Arabic

Senior thesis presentations in Comparative Literature and Arabic will be held Tuesday, May 20th, 12:00-1:00 PM in Hollander 241. Please come cheer for two of this year’s amazing seniors. Conversation and congratulations to follow over refreshments.

Min Joo Lee ‘14

“We are No Superheroes, Others are No Villains: Identity Politics in Japanese and Korean War Films”
In this essay, I explore how identity politics plays out in Japanese and Korean films that deal with the time period around Pacific War. My focus is especially on the identity politics in regards to gender and nationalism and how those normative identities are subverted or enforced during tumultuous periods like Pacific War. I come to the conclusion that the current creation of gender and national identity is very much predicated upon the existence of the “Other”. The above two identity groups are extremely eclectic and create a large base of “Other” whom they could paint as exotic, weak, and evil forces that needs to be eradicated. Identities and societies created with this mode inevitably gets caught up in the vicious cycle of undermining their own grounds for existence through various contradicting ideologies and trying to escape such contradictions through hurting “Others”. Therefore, I suggest that identity politics need to transcend the binary of “Us” and the “Other” and accept a gradation of identities by acknowledging one’s own vulnerability rather than trying cto benefit from that of the “Others”.

* After graduating from Hanyoung Foreign Language High school in South Korea, Min Joo Lee came to Williams College to major in Comparative Literature and WGSS. After graduation, she will enroll in UCLA Gender Studies PhD program starting next semester.

Isabel Vázquez ‘14

“’Every Joke is a Tiny Revolution’: Political Humor in Egypt”
This thesis explores the role of political humor in modern Egyptian history and examines how the content and form of that humor developed alongside changing technologies and political situations. Egyptian political humor is a complex and evolving form of political expression whose presence in the public sphere has fluctuated and changed through time. The first chapter of this thesis lays out the history of Egyptian political humor, from pre-Islamic poetry to 19th century satirical journals and whispered jokes under Nasser. The second chapter traces the evolution of satire under Mubarak’s regime, with an increasing presence of subversive humor on the internet. Finally, the third chapter examines political humor in a post-Mubarak Egypt, focusing on the satirical news program Al-Bernameg with Bassem Youssef.

* Isabel is an Arabic Studies major and International Studies concentrator from Urbana, Illinois. She will spend the next year teaching English at Atma Jaya University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.