Challenging Hegemony, Zineb Sedira’s Mother Tongue

I am conducting an investigation of corporeal feminism, a theory which gained ground in the 1990's, and its relationship to the practice of present-day women artists; specifically with regards to their representation of either themselves or of other women. In this paper I will demonstrate the ways in which Zineb Sedira represents an aspect of modern European Culture. In her video installation piece Mother Tongue she depicts conversations between herself, her mother and her daughter, each of whom speak in their respective 'mother tongues': Algerian, French and English. The paper will include a tight, focused discussion of a limited case study highlighting areas of concern for women in terms of cultural and societal identity. I would suggest that Zineb Sedira's practice challenges the hegemony of globalization. Distinguished philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913 - 2005) said, "When we discover that there are several cultures instead of just one and consequently at the time when we acknowledge the end of a sort of cultural monopoly, be it illusory or real, we are threatened with the destruction of our own discovery. Suddenly it becomes possible that there are just others, that we ourselves are an "other" among others."