| Summary: | This article aims at linking the question of representation of the self and the other to linguistic analysis. An episode of Freej, a popular Emirati cartoon show, is examined both from an anthropological and discursive perspective. Although superficially seeming to denounce unorthodox adorcism (zār) as practised by women of African origin, the episode here considered actually proposes an ambiguous discourse on Emirati identity, challenged by the multiple influences of globalization and popular Arab cultures, a national identity which has become «possessed» by the outside world, as it is forced to open up toward the Other while preserving its specificity.
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