Global Cinema and Transnational Constructions of Race
Princess Kouka” in Jericho (1937)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6428941 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Deborah Starr (0000-0001-5928-4624, Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-24 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0020743825000145 |
| OpenAlex | W4410449021 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 12 |
In December 1936, producer Walter Futter announced that he had discovered a Sudanese princess named Kouka to play the romantic lead opposite Paul Robeson in Jericho (Thorton Freedland, 1937). “Princess Kouka” was not Sudanese, nor was she royalty, nor was she unknown. Kouka (née Nagiya Ibrahim Bilal; 1917–79) was an Egyptian actor who had been cast in supporting roles in Egyptian films. This article examines what media coverage of Kouka’s brief moment in the international limelight (1936–38) reveals about differing constructions of race across three race-conscious societies: the United Kingdom, where the film is made; the Jim Crow United States that Paul Robeson left behind; and colonial Egypt
Art · Art history · Movie theater · Race (biology · Sociology · African history and culture studies · European history and politics · Gender Studies · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society
| Highly cited | No |
|---|