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Boxes Fulla Fun: The Fulla doll, Identity and Consumption in a Globalizing Arab World
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- Author / Creator
- Saleh, Lena O.
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This thesis uses the case study of the Arab-Islamic Fulla doll to examine the relationships among globalization, consumption and cultural identities. Beginning with the question of how cultural products like the Fulla doll come to exist, I argue that the Fulla doll serves as an example of the process of creolization whereby non-Western peoples mobilize local customs and beliefs to transform globally-distributted consumer goods, thus re-contextualizing and assigning new meanings to these goods. Through an analysis of thirteen animated Fulla doll advertisements, I argue that the Barbie doll’s ethnic, religious and gendered identity has been re-contextualized to transform her into an Arab-Muslim woman, the Fulla doll. The final chapter of this thesis discusses the socio-political significance of dolls and their participation in processes of socialization and identity-formation in children. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of the Fulla doll’s challenge to Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilizaions theory.
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2013
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Arts
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.