REFEREED ACADEMIC PAPERS
Television and the Ethnographic Endeavor:
The Case of Syrian Drama

By Christa Salamandra

Abstract:

This paper examines the recent expansion of the Syrian drama industry, based on preliminary fieldwork among cultural producers. Privatization and regionalization have spurred transformations within the industry, reflecting those taking place within Syrian society and the Syrian polity more generally. The proliferation of television products, channels, and audience access necessitates a rethinking of ethnographic approaches to Arab television. Field research within an industry that increasingly encompasses entire artistic and intellectual communities provides one answer to the methodological challenges emerging from transnationalism.

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