A Postmodern Study of Micronarratives in Selected Muslim Documentaries

Abstract

This study is concerned with the postmodern analysis of the Oscar Winning documentaries by Muslim filmmakers, namely, Saving Face (2012) and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015). The goal of this study is to examine that how these documentaries have served as a platform that has brought the marginalized narratives to the center. This study has used Lyotard’s (1984) concept of Incredulity towards Metanarratives as a theoretical framework in order to analyze that how the selected documentaries have shown disillusionment towards the grand and overarching narratives of the (Western) world. This study has also explored different postmodern techniques that are used in these documentaries. For this purpose, this study has employed Catharine. A MacKinnon's Dominance Feminism (1987) in order to analyze that how the documentaries Saving Face (2012), and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015) have shown the dark reality of patriarchy where men use dominance as a tool to control women. This research is significant as it has explored, through the use of postmodern techniques, the centering of the de-centered subject(s). And this research has also explored that how these documentaries have served as platform to highlight the dark aspects of oppressive patriarchy. Findings of this research reveal that the documentaries have challenged the dominant narratives regarding men and their supremacy, particularly with regard to Muslim societies where women challenge men’s dominance and contest the narratives regarding the marginalization of women.