Beyond homonationalism: queer temporality in contemporary Israeli gay and lesbian cinema

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article explores the homonormative and homonational politics and the discourse of LGBT rights in contemporary Israeli cinema. Some Israeli films such as Yossi and Jagger, The Bubble, and The Secrets promote homonormative and homonational discourse that is guided by a progressive trajectory from traditional societies to modernity, from shame to pride, from homophobia and the secrecy of the closet to gay sexual liberation and identity that follows Western standards. In contrast, films like Joe + Belle, Blush and the Arisa Mizrahi party line videos critique logical temporal conventions of development and progress, maturity, adulthood, and responsibility, and the social scenarios which regulate identities into national, sexual, and ethnic normativity. They offer new ways of being in the world, life and relationships based on queer temporality that are not necessarily founded on past lessons or future expectations, but rather derive from the desire for the “here and now.”