Open cultural studies: Longing for the Past and Resisting Oblivion: Palestinian Women as Guardians of Memory in Bye Bye Tiberias (2023)

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Titel:: Longing for the Past and Resisting Oblivion: Palestinian Women as Guardians of Memory in Bye Bye Tiberias (2023)

Zusammenfassung:: Abstract: This article explores the role of Palestinian women as the guardians of memory in Bye Bye Tiberias (2023), a documentary by Lina Soualem that intertwines personal testimony, archival footage, and cinematic reenactments to reconstruct intergenerational narratives of remembrance by centering four generations of Palestinian women. Drawing on memory studies, feminist film theory, and a colonial approach, this study examines how Bye Bye Tiberias employs memory and nostalgia not as passive longing but as an active means of historical preservation. The documentary foregrounds oral storytelling, visual documentation, and embodied memory as key strategies in sustaining cultural heritage and countering historical amnesia. Through a close reading of the film’s visual and narrative techniques, this article argues that Palestinian women serve as custodians of collective memory, ensuring historical transmission despite displacement and generational fragmentation. Ultimately, Bye Bye Tiberias reclaims lost histories and affirms the enduring significance of women’s voices in shaping Palestinian cultural identity.

Schlagworte:: memory ; nostalgia ; intergenerational memory ; feminist lens ; women as memory guardians