 | Flagging Patriotism: Crises of Narcissism and Anti-Americanism Subjects: Humanities; Politics & International Relations; Social Sciences; Cultural Studies; Media & Film Studies; Politics & the Media; Sociology & Social Policy; Sociology of Media; Media & Communications; The question "Why do they hate us?" is one of the most oft-cited puzzles of contemporary American affairs, yet it's not clear to whom "they" or "us" refers, nor even what "hate" means. In this bold new work, Ella Shohat and Robert Stam take apart the "hate discourse" of right-wing politics, placing it in an international context. How, for example, do other nations love themselves, and how is that love connected to their attitudes toward America? Is love of country "monogamous" or can one love many countries? When can a country's self-love be a symptom of self-hatred? Drawing upon their extensive experience with South American, European, and Middle Eastern societies, the authors have written a long engagement with a problem that refuses to go away. Flagging Patriotism considers these complex features of "being patriotic," and in so doing insists that the idea of patriotism, instead of being rejected or embraced, be accorded the complex identity it possesses. Ella Shohat is Professor in the Departments of Art and Public Policy and Middle Eastern Studies at New York University. She is co-author, with Robert Stam, of Unthinking Eurocentrism, also published by Routledge. Her other books include Talking Visions: Multiculturalism in a Transnational Age, Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation, and Taboo Memories, Dasporic Voices. Robert Stam is University Professor of Cinema Studies at New York University. He is co-author, with Ella Shohat, of Unthinking Eurocentrism, and, with Robert Burgoyne and Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, of New Vocabularies in Film Semiotics, both published by Routledge. His many other books include Film Theory: An Introduction, A Companion to Film Theory, Film and Theory: An Anthology, and Tropical Multiculturalism: A Comparative History of Race in Brazilian Cinema and Culture. |
