What is Out There to Resist? : Critical Terrains and Clashing Creeds in under the Bombs

Abstract

This article demonstrates that Philippe Aractingi's 2007 Under the Bombs-produced in response to the July 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel-is a docudrama in the form of a road(block) movie, whose internal borders are both material and discursive. Under the Bombs presents two sets of opposed attitudes and coping strategies vis-à-vis this war; these are manifest, respectively, in the two cinematic strains which make up the film. Applying Ken Seigneurie's terms, I argue that the actual footage displays the new 'mythic utopianist', whereas the fictional storyline tries to uphold the old 'elegiac humanist' tradition of standing-by-the-ruins. What differentiates these two discourses is the definition/meaning of resistance in the Lebanese international and local political contexts. © 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.