The Image of the Jinn in the Saudi Cartoon ‘Ya‘rub’
The Saudi animated series “Ya‘rub” was released in 2018-2019 to become a part of a regional identity-building policy. The King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, which commissioned the cartoon, notes that the main goal of this project was to interest the local population in the history of the region and to deepen the collective memory of their past. 11 episodes cover a vast number of characters from Qur‘anic and pre-Islamic mythology, including djinn, who mostly enjoy being second-role, but nevertheless important characters. In this article I make an attempt to analyze the image of the djinn and argue that it is based on regional perceptions and stereotypes about the world of the djinn. But at the same time, the djinn's visual embodiment in the series was influenced by the Western understanding of this “mystical” and “magical” creature. The combination of regional and Western interpretations in the image of the djinn contributes not only to the contextualization of the historical narrative, but also to building an emotional connection with the audience. The author declares no conflict of interests.
Keywords
visual culture,
collective narrative,
historical heritage,
political memory,
jinnAuthors
| Slepukhina Olga P. | Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) | olya2s2s@mail.ru |
Всего: 1
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