Drag, Irony and Social Criticism in the Third Space – "Arisa" as a Case in Point

This presentation focuses on the performative and social aspects of the drag and the drag show from two perspectives - the drag as a manifestation of cultural translation, and his or her employment of irony, masquerading and humor as tools of social criticism. Our case study is "Arisa", an Israeli ensemble of mostly gay musicians and performers established in 2010, whose parties and clips shatter not just the binary opposition between male and female, but also the one between Western-oriented gay culture and Mizrahi [Oriental] culture in Israel. Thus, it illustrates Bhabha's notion of the 'third space', where 'cultural translation' takes place, resulting in hybridity. However, calling to mind the popularity of Queen' s video clips with their social criticism, Arisa's success is also in accord with Gramsci's claim, that hegemony rules through assimilating rather than overpowering its opponents. To deal with these issues, the article analyzes Arisa's clip "Po ze lo Eyropa [It's not Europe here]".