Learning to Live with Ghosts in the Aftermath of War

On documentary strategies in Rabih Mroué’s How Nancy Wished That Everything Was an April Fool's Joke

Bibliographic Data

ID12914730
AuthorsSolveig Gade (University of Copenhagen, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume8
Issue4
Pages328-346
Publication date2015-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of War and Culture Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1752-6272 • E-ISSN: 1752-6280
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17526272.2015.1108581
OpenAlexW2318452452
LanguageEN
References cited13

The past decade has witnessed a surge in quasi-documentary art forms engaging with the topic of war and conflict. Taking its point of departure in this trend, this article will analyse and discuss the performance How Nancy Wished That Everything Was an April Fool's Joke by Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué. Positioning the performance within the specific context of post-war Lebanon, the article will explore the ways in which the twisted documentary strategy employed by Mroué, that is, an approach entailing the blending of fact and fiction, might be said to work as a critical strategy, ultimately inviting the audience to question the existing, competing renderings of the Lebanese Civil War. Based on these findings, the article will conclude by suggesting why the quasi-documentary format has developed such evident appeal for artists wrestling with the topic of war in the contemporary era of visual warfare

Aesthetics · Appeal · Art · Context (archaeology · Joke · Literature · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Visual arts · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East Politics and Society · Public Spaces through Art

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