Identity Matters: The Cultural Logics of Animation Production and Distribution in the Arab World

Abstract

Though animation production in the Arab world started in the 1930s, it was not until the 2000s that homegrown films and series gained momentum on the national, geolinguistic, and cultural markets. This article provides an introduction into the cultural logics of homegrown animated cartoon production and distribution in the Arab world, a geolinguistic region, and the Muslim world, a cultural/religious region. Doing so, the article traces the global technological trends and individual struggles, as well as economic considerations, identity-based networks, and government policies that affected media productions and distribution.