A Pan-Arab Cliffhanger: The Case of Transnational Arabic TV Series.

Amongst the key trends in Arab television drama productions is the rise of the so-called 'pan-Arab dramas', serialized television fictions in which an ensemble of characters from various Arab nationalities is presented in transnational settings. While the outbreak of the 'Arab Spring' and the consequent emigration of Arab talents to new centers of production has played a role in this emergence, pan-Arab dramas may have also been a reaction to the Arab television industry's need to catch up with the ongoing boom of 'glocal' production and distribution approaches. As television narratives have been often considered catalysts for national and transnational imagination, pan-Arab dramas potentially influence the imagination of the Arab World's cultural identity. Through a qualitative content analysis of selected pan-Arab dramas and interviews with their makers, this research aims at understanding the texts of these dramas within the discourses of nationalism and cultural identity. Additionally, the research will explore the context of these dramas' screenplay development as a tool of cultural production with the potential ability to redraw the imagination of the Arab world's cultural identity.

Keywords:ARAB REGION, PRODUCTION, TELEVISION, NATIONAL IDENTITY

Disciplines:Cultural media