1. “Orientalism” was the west's institutionalization and stylization for “dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.” Said, Edward, Orientalism (New York, 1979), 4.Google Scholar Wolff, Larry, Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment (Stanford, 1994)Google Scholar; Bakic-Hayden, Milica, “Nesting Orientalisms: The Case of Former Yugoslavia,” Slavic Review 54, no. 4 (Winter 1995): 917-31CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Todorova, Maria “The Balkans: From Discovery to Invention,” Slavic Review 53, no. 2 (Summer 1994): 453-82CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Todorova, , Imagining the Balkans (New York, 1997).Google Scholar

2. Bakić-Hayden, “Nesting Orientalisms,” 917.

3. Todorova, Imagining the Balkans, 11.

4. Ibid., 17.

5. West, Rebecca, Black Lamb, Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia (1941; New York, 1982)Google Scholar; Kaplan, Robert, Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History (New York, 1993).Google Scholar

6. Cf., Grant, Madison, The Passing of the Great Race (New York, 1970)Google Scholar; and Stoddard, Lothrop, Racial Realities in Europe (New York, 1924).Google Scholar

7. Said, Orientalism, 6, 162-63, 166-67, 182-84, 189-90, 220-22, 309-12; Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism (New York, 1993), 64, 111-12, 120-22.

8. Todorova, Imagining the Balkans, 20.

9. Ibid., 17.

10. Jameson, Fredric, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (Durham, 1991), 34, 27.Google Scholar

11. Borges, Jorge Luis, “Of Exactitude in Science,” in Collected Fictions, trans. Hurley, Andrew (1960; New York, 1998).Google Scholar

12. Baudrillard, Jean, “Simulacra and Simulations,” in Selected Writings, ed. Poster, Mark (Stanford, 1988), 166 Google Scholar.

13. As has been widely reported, the Kazakhstan government was initially very upset with the release of Borat and took out newspaper advertisements in the United States to show what they call the “real” Kazakhstan (Morning Edition, National Public Radio, 14 September 2006). Gauhar Abdygaliyeva, a Kazakh woman living in the United States, wrote about her frustration that Americans know about her country's existence only from watching Borat: “Almost every time I meet people and tell them where I come from, they ask me about die ‘Kazakh journalist’ Borat.” The misuse of her flag also saddens her: “The Kazakh flag Borat uses in the movie, with an eagle soaring in the blue sky under the sun, is our symbol of independence and pride. If your eyes have ever welled up when you saw the Stars and Stripes, you will understand how we feel about it.” Gauhar Abdygaliyeva, “My 'Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,’ “ Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 9 November 2006.

14. Television station manager Stuart Kellogg of WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi, was tricked by Baron Cohen and crew: “We were gotten. Our folks researched the production company, which has its own Web site and sounds legitimate. They did their homework, bvit … who knows what an accent from Kazakhstan sounds like?” See David Marchese and Willa Paskin, “What's Real in ‘Borat'?” atwww.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/ll/10/ guide_to_borat/index2.html (last consulted 1 November 2007).

15. Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations,” 172.

16. We might find no better example of the perverse man-child Borat than when he is sitting on his bed, replete with plush animals showing us pictures from one of his hobbies: “going to capital city to watch a ladies while they make a toilet.“

17. Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations,” 178.

18. Ibid, (emphasis in the original).

19. Ibid.

20. Baron Cohen claims that the original inspiration for his reporter was a Russian doctor he had met when he was 23 years old. Terry Gross, “Meet the Real Sacha Baron Cohen. Interview with Terry Gross,” Fresh Air from WHYY, National Public Radio, 4 January 2007. Some detractors claim that Mahir Cagn, a Turkish man whose enthusiastic broken- English web site statements won him a cult following on the Internet in the late 1990s, had to have been Baron Cohen's source because so many Boratisms can be found there: “You come visit, you can stay my home,” at www.answers.com/topic/mahir-a-r (last consulted 1 November 2007).

21. Kirsty Scott, “The Baron behind Borat,” The Age, 12 November 2006.

22. The English-language press often refers to the “village of Moroieni” as the filming site. The producers also thank “The Villagers of Moroieni” in the final credits of Borat. Glod is, however, one village in the Moroieni comuna.

23. The newspaper Ziua describes Glod as a place with colorful houses where the pubs are full all day long because no one has work. A few rich people in the village have “palaces,” but many houses are described as primitive, with layers of plastic bags serving as windows. Laszlo Kallai, “Afacerea ‘Borat’ in Glod,” Ziua, 25 November 2006, at www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2006-ll-25&id=211812 (last consulted 1 November 2007).

24. A. Lӑzescu, “Dupӑ SUA si Franfa, România aratӑ cӑ poate fine loc §i de Kazahstan in filme,” Ziarul de Iasi, 7 November 2006, at www.ziaruldeiasi.ro/cms/site/z_is/news/dupa_ sita_si_franta_romania_arata_ca_poate_tine_loc_si_de_kazahstan_in_filme_136616.html (last consulted 1 November 2007).

25. Reports from Glod are rather contradictory. While some scream “exploitation,“ others claim that the compensation was reasonable, that extras very much knew what they were doing, and that they now just want more money, especially since they know how well the film has done. Cf., Alin Ludu Dumbravӑ, “My Name Borat!” Sapte Seri, November 2006, at www.agenda.liternet.ro/articol/3496/Alin-Ludu-Dumbrava/My-name-Borat—Borat.html (last consulted 1 November 2007); Andrei Gorzo, “Salbaticul—Borat,” Dilerna Veclie, November 2006, at agenda.liternet.ro/articol/3533/Andrei-Gorzo/Salbaticul—Borat.html (last consulted 1 November 2007).

The most widely circulated article attacking Baron Cohen was first published in a Sunday edition of the Daily Mail in November 2006. The writers brought the film to Glod to see how villagers would react, and the villagers did so with, reportedly, fierce indignation. News services and blogs picked up the article and have reprinted various parts of the story, helping to create a minor Borat backlash. Bojan Pancevski and Carmiola Ionescu, “Borat Film ‘Tricked’ Poor Village Actors,” Daily Mail, 11 November 2006, at www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arucles/news/news.htmlPin_article_id-415871 (last consulted 1 November 2007); cf., “Romanii vor sӑ-1 tragӑ in teapӑ pe Borat,” Antena 3, 14 November 2006; www.antena3.ro/index.php/video/revistapresei/Romanii-vor-sal- traga-in-teapa-pe-Borat_clt_23740_ext.html (last consulted 12 November 2007); and “Stanovnici rumunjskog sela tuze Borata,” Jutarnji list, 15 November 2006, at www.jutarnji.hr/kultura_i_zivot/showbiz/clanak/art-2006,ll,15,borat_glod,50409.jl (last consulted 1 November 2007).

Among Romanians, opinions about the treatment of Glod villagers have been mixed. Some think they were grossly exploited, others say they are Roma scamming money now that they know of the film's great success. Yet one Romanian blogger wrote, “The way that we look at gypsies, that's the way the Western Europeans look at us.” Scorpion 2006, “Borat, Journalist from Kazakhstan,” at www2.blogger.com/profile/04553558362288267989 (accessed 27 February 2007; no longer available).

26. Eric Weiner, “The Real Kazakhstan: What Does Borat Get Right and Wrong about His Native Land?” Slate, 3 November 2006, at www.slate.com/id/2152789/ (last consulted 1 November 2007).

27. We see scant evidence of religion early in Borat, except as fleeting glimpses: three Kuzcek villagers wear crosses around their necks. Later, Borat is saved by Evangelical Christians in the United States and the immediate effect is a newfound ability to forgive Pamela Anderson for not being a virgin. Back in Kuzcek for the denouement, Borat tells us that the “Running of the Jew” is now seen as cruel, and we see it replaced by a mock Passion play because, “We are Christian now.” What religion they were before is not clear.

28. Cf., Horvathova, Emilia, Rok vo zvykoch nasho I'udu, trans. Tuhy, Zlata (Bratislava, 1986)Google Scholar; Stolicna, Rastislava, et al., Slovakia: European Contexts of the Folk Culture (Bratislava, 1997)Google Scholar; Mykola Musynka, “Folk Customs of Carpatho-Rusyns: Easter,” Carpatho-Rusyn Association 7, no. 1 (1984): 4, atwww.carpatho-rusyn.org/customs/eastr.htm (last consulted 1 November 2007).

29. Cf., Supek-Zupan, Olga, “The Meaning of Carnival in Croatia,” Anthropological Quarterly 56, no. 2 (April 1983): 90–94 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

30. Mohácsi Busójárás Gallery, at ees.bme.hu/events/gallery/mohacs/ (last consulted 1 November 2007).

31. Rob Fitzgerald, ‘You Dirty Borat!” The Guardian, 28 October 2006.

32. “Borat Hunting the Jew,” Da Ali G Show, Season 1, at www.youtubeindir.com/ izle Borat-Hunting-The-Jew LMXC75YeHe4.html (last consulted 1 November 2007).

33. Cf., “Hrvatski centar za razminiranje,” at www.hcr.hr (last consulted 1 November 2007); “Centar za uklanjanje mina Bosne i Hercegovine,” www.bhmac.org (accessed 5 January 2007; no longer available). Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are two of the dozen countries listed with the highest rating of “Severe” for landmine threat. By comparison, Kazakhstan's mine problems receive the second lowest rating, “Affected,” the same rating given to western European countries like Germany, France, England, Italy, and Denmark. “Landmines: Eliminating the Threat,” Nexusweek, 2007, at www.newsweekeducation.com/ interactive/landminemap/landmine.swf (last consulted 1 November 2007).

34. Ivana Nanut plays to his misogyny, even seeking to marry Borat and agreeing that a luxury cage would be nice. They never discuss Borat's antisemitism. “Borat in London“ (2006), Hrvatska Radiotelevizija HRT2, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC5MODwaOoU (last consulted 1 November 2007).

35. Associating Gypsies, or Roma, with Kazakhstan is not completely absurd since Kazakhstan has a small Roma population. Roma are, however, much more closely associated with eastern Europe (even as governments try to minimize their existence). The World Romani Congress and almost all other Romani web sites for example, write primarily about the problems of eastern European Roma, secondarily about western European and American Roma, and usually do not mention any other place (except to trace their roots back to India). Cf., Rom News Society, “Rom News Network,” at www.romnews.com (last consulted 1 November 2007); Romani Home Page, “Opre Roma!” at www.romani.org (last consulted 1 November 2007); Patrin, “The Patrin Web Journal: Romani Culture and History,” at www.geocities.com/∼Patrin/ (last consulted 1 November 2007); World Bank, “World Bank and the Roma,” atweb.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/ COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/EXTROMA/0contentMDK:20333806∼menuPK:615999∼page PK:64168445∼piPK:64168309∼theSitePK:615987,00.html (last consulted 1 November 2007).

36. Catherine (blog), “For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Ederlezi,” Illyrian Gazette, 13 October, 2006, at illyriangazette.blogspot.com/2006/10/for-rnake-benefit-gloriousnation- of.html (lastconsulted 1 November 2007); “Bregovici Belinda Bedekovicna soundtracku Boratovog filma,” Vecernji list, 13 October 2006, at www.vecernji.hr/newsroom/ scena/652513/index.do, (last consulted 1 November 2007).

37. “Durdevdan” and “Ederlezi” both mean Saint George's Day. The tune is an old Romany tune, but Bregovic arranged and rewrote some of it for his famous Yugoslav group Bijelo Dugme for their final 1979 album, Ciribiribela, an album that reflected South Slav folk traditions.

38. Coincidentally, when a legitimate Kazakhstani television journalist tried to report from the United States in Fall 2006, his credentials were carefully reviewed because of the hyperreal Borat—and, in a perverse inversion of unfortunate realism, the journalist's cameraman's name was “Bolat.” “Real Kazakh Journalist Faces Skepticism in U.S.” Morning Edition, National Public Radio, 1 December 2006.

39. The Romanian verb a bora means “to vomit” and borat indicates something vomitous, so the crude expression ligan borat means “vomitous Gypsy.“

40. Cf., Fleming, K. E., “ Orientalism, the Balkans, and Balkan Historiography,” American Historical Review 105, no. 4 (2000): 1218-33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

41. Cf., Eco, Umberto, Travels in Hyperreality (London, 1987), 4.Google Scholar

42. With Borat, Baron Cohen may have written a twenty-first-century update to Democracy in America—perhaps it could be titled “Hypocrisy in America“?

43. Gross, “Meet the Real Sacha Baron Cohen.“

44. Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations,” 172.

45. During the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Zizek wrote about this western “projection“ that was keeping the east in its place as the utterly irrational: “In former Yugoslavia, we are lost not because of our primitive dreams and myths preventing us from speaking the enlightened language of Europe, but because we pay in flesh the price for being the stuff the Other's dreams are made of…. Against today's journalistic commonplace about the Balkans as the madhouse of thriving nationalisms where rational rules are suspended, one must point out again and again that the moves of every political agent in former Yugoslavia, reprehensible as they may be, are totally rational within the goals they want to attain—the only exception, the only truly irrational factor in it is the gaze of the West, babbling about archaic ethnic passions.” Slavoj Zizek, “Caught in Another's Dream,“ in Rabia Ali and Lawrence Lifschultz, eds., Why Bosnia? Writings on the Balkan War (Stony Creek, Conn., 1993), 233-40. Notably, my Bucharest-born Borat viewing companion tells me that she aligns with Todorova's argument that the Balkans should not be treated like the “oriental,” that it is a different concept. I counter, saying that “orientalism” is not about the place itself, nor about the region's people's opinions. What Zizek criticizes is the “gaze of the West,” the western discourse about the place. My friend, for example, asserts that, as a Romanian, she is not from the Balkans and is not culturally Balkan. I respond by countering, with “orientalism,“ Said critiques the fact that I, an American, think she is from the Balkans. Said writes that it is about “how it is said, by whom, where, and for whom.” Said, Edward, “Intellectuals in the Post-Colonial World,” in Brydon, Diana, ed., Postcolonialism: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies (New York, 2000), 31 Google Scholar.

46. Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations,” 178.

47. Ibid.

48. Gross, “Meet the Real Sacha Baron Cohen.“

49. Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations,” 178.