Mass Culture and Modernism in Egypt / Edition 1

by Walter Armbrust

Overview

This path-breaking study of Egyptian popular culture provides fresh and vital insights into the long struggle of modern Egypt to define its identity. Walter Armbrust examines Egyptian television, recorded music, the press, and the cinema, revealing the delicate balance between conservative nationalist imagery and a modernist ethic. However, this balance has been put in question both by producers and consumers of the media, reflecting a sense that the way modern Egypt is represented does not reflect the real experience of Egyptians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521484923
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/28/1996
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology , #102
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.83(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The white flag; 3. The split vernacular; 4. The gifted musician; 5. Classic, clunker, national narrative; 6. Popular commentary, real lives; 7. 'Vulgarity'.

Editorial Reviews

"Mass Culture and Modernism in Egypt is a refreshing initiative that is bound to stir up controversy amongst modernist anthropologists, just as the belly-dancing Zuzu did amongst straight-laced scholars at Cairo University." William Washabaugh, American Anthropologist

"The creativity and intellectual sharpness of Armbrust's book will come as a relief to readers who had begun to suspect that 'popular culture' and 'thin enthnography' were made for each other." Anthropological Quarterly

From the Publisher