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"Smiling and waving witty banners": the expressive culture of the Egyptian revolution
Abstract
This paper will examine the expressive culture of the Egyptian "revolution"--an event that began 25 January 2011 and reached a climax on 11 February 2011 with the resignation of Egyptian president Husni Mubarak. The outcome of this event is at this writing still unknown, however it is possible even at this early stage to examine the role of songs, poetry, political slogans, photographs, and video in communicating the movement's goals and ultimately mobilizing the Egyptian people. The movement completely blind-sided all academic experts and even international intelligence. While the Tunisian "jasmine revolution" of early 2011 is credited as providing an impetus, many look further back to see the brutal murder of blogger Khalid Said in June 2010 as a catalyst, and others find inspiration in the movement of workers in the Egyptian town of al-Mahallah al-Kubra in 2008. While many debate the agency of the internet and social media in the events of early 2011, there is no doubt that new media have provided riveting photographs and video that attracted international attention to the Egyptian anti-government movement. As the revolution unfolded, it has also become clear that the "Facebook kids" (as they are now called in Egyptian media) orchestrated a meticulous plan to ensure that their revolution appeared to come from Egypt's grass roots. This paper will also briefly consider the expressive culture of previous Egyptian revolutionary movements and the connections between them and the movement which is still unfolding today. The author of this paper was not in Egypt at the time of the demonstrations, therefore the presentation will be built around the resources available to its author via YouTube, blog posts, photographs from a variety of sources, Facebook posts, and various news media. The author firmly believes that these media enabled an authentic engagement with events "on the ground."
Discipline
Media Arts
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries