Hyperrealizing “Borat” with the Map of the European “Other
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8012218 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dickie Wallace (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 35-49 |
| Publication date | 2008-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Slavic Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0037-6779 • E-ISSN: 2325-7784 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/27652765 |
| OpenAlex | W2330231795 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 6 |
Sacha Baron Cohen maps a cultural background for his “Borat” character by creating a hyperreal Kazakhstan that is based, nonetheless, on gradations of a “real,” yet Orientalized, eastern Europe and Balkan region. Having no cultural connections to its actual Central Asian namesake, “Borat's Kazakhstan” is a Baudrillardian simulacrum because, for a western filmgoer, it essentially replaces the original. Scratching beneath the surface, however, we see that Baron Cohen composes his clown-journalist using exotic, yet familiar, “realities” from the “Other” in Europe's backyard. Using Edward Said's Orientalism (along with Milica Bakić-Hayden's and Maria Todorova's modifications of the idea), Dickie Wallace describes how this discursive bricolage of eastern European and Balkan music, language, folkloristic rituals, and archetypes, as well as continual tabu violations and commonsensical acceptance of violence, gives the character the sharp parodic elements that have had western audiences laughing even while wincing as they recognize themselves in this “Other
Art · Bricolage · Character (mathematics · Literature · Orientalism · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · History · Philippine History and Culture · Soviet and Russian History
Constructing East Asians in a European comic book series
‘Tintin, gender and desire’
Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen, and the seriousness of (mock) documentary
Ancient Volscian Border Dispute Flares”
I haven’t heard anything about religion whatsoever”
Kazakhstan reimagined
Stereotypes as source of subcultural capital
| Citations per year | 0.64 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2025 (11) |
| Highly cited | No |