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Another Word on the Wall: Graffiti in Cairo in the Service of the Revolution
Abstract by Dr. Ivan Panović On Session 031  (The Politics of Language)

On Sunday, November 18 at 8:30 am

2012 Annual Meeting

Abstract
Language has played – and continues to play – an important role in what is commonly referred to as the Egyptian Revolution. In fact, different creative ways in which language has been put to work have been constitutive of the uprising. It is through verbal art and skilful manipulation of various linguistic resources that participants, both active and potential, are mobilised, informed, encouraged and motivated. In this presentation, I start from the premise that there is a certain correlation between the ongoing reconfiguration of the Egyptian sociolinguistic setting on the one hand, and on the other continuous expressions of dissent and resistance among many Egyptians. I particularly focus on – by default short-lived – graffiti.I situate this analysis within my broader ethnographic findings on “a changing linguascape” in contemporary Egypt where Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) constitute two theoretical poles of what has traditionally been understood as “the diglossic continuum.” The Egyptian sociolinguistic setting, however, is here understood as being redefined and reconfigured by the increasing socio economic importance of yet another linguistic variety – English. Relevant examples and linguistic details are discussed with reference to a broader socio-cultural context and local language ideologies surrounding the production and reception of written texts in contemporary Egypt. The inventory of linguistic resources variously employed by various graffiti artists is identified to contain re-combinations across three linguistic varieties, MSA, ECA and English, and two scripts, Arabic and Latin. By and large, these re-combinations and language choices are shown to be strategic, locally meaningful, yet often indexical of global flows and aspiring cosmopolitanisms. The theoretical framework which understands that language is, first and foremost, a local practice (and orthography a social practice) is here further elaborated so as to include multimodality, geosemantics and insights gained from studies of linguistic landscapes in different settings. Cairene graffiti are understood as both acts and artefacts of resistance and struggle. Simultaneously symbolic and material, these graffiti and the resultant transient linguistic cityscapes represent interventions in and on the environment; they are constant attempts at occupying and re-appropriating the urban space. Their lifespan on the streets and walls in Cairo is usually very brief, but their afterlife is often secured online through a variety of photo-archives on the Internet, testifying to a remarkable trans-/metro-lingual character of the local practice of revolt.
Discipline
Linguistics
Geographic Area
Egypt
Sub Area
Sociolinguistics