Since the 1990s, Palestinian theatrical activities in the West Bank have expanded exponentially. As well as local productions, Palestinian theatre-makers have presented their work to international audiences on a scale unprecedented in Palestinian history. By tracing the history of the five major theatre companies (Al-Kasaba Theatre, Ashtar Theatre, Al-Harah Theatre, The Freedom Theatre and Al-Rowwad) currently working in the West Bank, this groundbreaking project examines the role of theatre-makers in the formation of ‘abject counterpublics’. By placing theories of abjection and counterpublic formation in conversation with each other, this dissertation argues that theatre in the West Bank has been regulated by processes of social abjection and, yet, it is an important site for counterpublic formation. In this way Palestinian theatre has played an integral role in the formation of an abject counterpublic, a discursive and performative space in which theatre-makers contest Zionist discourse and Israeli state practices. What tactics, I ask, do theatre-makers use to disrupt, subvert and/or bypass the Zionist public sphere? What counter-discourse emerges from this site? How is such a counter-discourse articulated in performance spaces? And how does Palestinian theatre, in the logistical sense, work against a dominant discourse of erasure as well as continue to operate under conditions of settler-colonialism? This dissertation is the first major account of Palestinian theatre covering the last thirty years. Taking the end of the first intifada (1993) as its point of departure, and using original field research and interviews, this project fills a major gap in our knowledge of contemporary Palestinian theatre in the West Bank up to the present. The original contribution of my research to the fields of theatre studies and Palestine studies are twofold. Firstly, Reuven Snir’s Palestinian Theatre (2005) is currently the only book-length study up to the end of the first intifada. Whereas Snir’s book is limited to archival sources, my arguments rest upon original fieldwork (interviews, participant observation, performance analysis and case studies) carried out in the West Bank in 2014 and 2015. As such, it provides a richer, bottom-up analysis of theatre-making. Secondly, by introducing the term abject counterpublics and by placing the voices of theatre-makers at the centre of its enquiry, this study broadens discussions on abjection and counterpublic formation in Palestine.

Quelques critiques universitaires ont été écrites sur des spectacles récents prenant pour thématique le conflit israélo-palestinien, mais il n’existe pas d’étude d’ensemble à ce sujet. Par ailleurs, depuis le début des années 2000, plusieurs recherches se sont attachées à préciser les relations qu’entretiennent le théâtre et la politique. Cette thèse vise à approfondir cette réflexion à partir des transferts culturels d’œuvres israéliennes et palestiniennes vers la France, des années 1970 à nos jours.Pour ce faire la méthodologie mise en œuvre articule historiographie du théâtre, histoire des représentations théâtrales et étude du champ de production culturelle en diachronie. Elle a permis de mettre en évidence la persistance de l’Orientalisme renforcé par le déphasage historique entre la France et Israël et l’inégal développement entre la France et la Palestine. La représentation théâtrale peut offrir un espace de résistance aux assignations identitaires subies par les artistes d’Israël et de Palestine, ou bien reproduire les rapports de domination lisibles à travers le degré de légitimité des dramaturg(i)es. La thèse rappelle la complexité des rapports de domination qui ne sont pas réductibles au racisme ou à un « choc de civilisations » mais relèvent d’une hégémonie culturelle entretenue par les institutions théâtrales et universitaires, et critiques dramatiques. Ces instances de légitimation sont analysées ici en tant que productrices d’un discours idéologique dont l’étude remet en question la posture de neutralité qui accompagne l’autonomie de l’art. / In a limited scope, academic critiques have been written on recent productions on the theme of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still there exists no comprehensive study on the subject. Additionally, several studies have focused on clarifying the relationship between theatre and politics since the early 2000s. The thesis aims to expand on this line of thought, deriving from cultural transfers of Israeli and Palestinian works to France, from the 1970s to the present day.The methodology implemented articulates theatre historiography, history of theatrical performances and the study of the cultural production field in diachrony. The methodology allowed for the highlighting of the persistence of Orientalism, reinforced by the historic phase-shift between France and Israel and the unequal development between France and Palestine. The theatrical performance can either offer a space of resistance to the identity assignements suffered by artists from Israel and Palestine, or can reproduce domination relations that are legible through the degree of legitimacy of the theatre performances and performers. The thesis evokes the complexity of relations of dominance that are not reducible to racism or a "clash of civilizations" but are a cultural hegemony maintained by theatrical and academic institutions, and drama reviewer. These instances of legitimation are analyzed here as producers of an ideological discourse, the study of which challenges the posture of neutrality that accompanies the autonomy of art.

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