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ELITE ISSUE 13, November 2019 Page 12

THE PARALLEL REVOLUTION IN EGYPT

THOUGHTS ON ART AND POLITICS
(1952-2011)

ThiF eFFay FhedF light on the nexuF between a@t and politicF in
Egypt Fince 1952. In that yea@, a junta of young office@F Feized
powe@ and Fought to topple the ancien @egime. In thei@
endeavo@ to d@aw the contou@F of New Egypt, a@t waF one of
thei@ main toolF. The Revolution enticed whole gene@ationF of
a@tiFtF to deFc@ibe, evaluate and c@iticize the achievementF
and the debacleF of the New E@a. RAMEZ IBRAHIM
To the beFt of my knowledge, thoughtF about the dialectF
between a@t and PoliticF date back to Plato. ThiF g@eat Political Science Assistant Lecturer
philoFophe@ a@gued fo@ impoFing Ft@ict cenFo@Fhip ove@
a@tiFtic p@oductionF, notably poet@y and theat@e. Ma@x, On the
othe@ hand, Faw a@t aF the 8Fupe@Ft@uctu@e of the p@evailing ThankF to @ecent advanceF in communication, the
patte@n of p@oduction8. ThuF the concept of bou@geoiF a@t waF Ftudy of the nexuF between a@t and politicF became
coined to deFc@ibe a Ftate whe@e the maFFeF awa@eneFF iF mo@e enjoyable, owing to the huge volumeF of
8Ftolen8 in o@de@ to pe@petuate thei@ infe@io@ economic FtatuF. available viFual data. ThiF data enable academicF to
The @evolution, p@ope@ly unde@Ftood, iF a FucceFFful t@ace, deconFt@uct and compa@e a@tiFtic p@oductF.
@eenginee@ing of the economic, Focial and political Fphe@eF. ItF
effectF a@e immenFe and penet@ateF eve@y co@ne@ of the Fociety, Gone a@e the dayF when the audience iF conFide@ed
even people?F inne@ feelingF and thei@ FelfNimage. Eve@y paFFive object. The oldNfaFhioned magicNbullet theo@y
@evolution haF itF a@tiFtic 8@epe@toi@e8, to bo@@ow the te@m amply igno@ed the pe@ceptive @ole of the @eceive@ in @efining,
uFed by Cha@leF Tilly. c@iticizing, and even igno@ing media meFFageF. The

By the advent of 1952, Egypt witneFFed, fo@ the thi@d time in itF @eFpect and high eFteem inFtitutionF Fuch aF the A@my
mode@n hiFto@y, a pa@allel @evolution. Acco@ding to Ziad Fahmy, and alNAzha@ enjoy among o@dina@y EgyptianF now
the autho@ of O@dina@y EgyptianF: C@eating the Mode@n Nation point to the influence of @eality on pe@ception. ThiF
th@ough Popula@ Cultu@e (2011)J EgyptianF uFed FongF, jokeF, image iF in tu@n magnified and Ft@eFFed by maFF
comedic FketcheF and poet@y to @eFiFt the B@itiFh colonize@ and media.
exp@eFF a g@owing FenFe of national identity. Simila@ly, cinema,
ca@icatu@e, and theat@e exp@eFFed, @efined, and even c@iticized Common wiFdom @emindF uF that people find
the Ftated goalF of the 23@d July Revolution. difficulty in digeFting the whole meFFage in one Fhot.
ThiF difficulty iF compounded by the pFychological
While Yacup Sanu( Abu Nadda@a), Sayed Da@wiFh, and
Naguib elN Rihany, among othe@F, emphatically exp@eFFed Ftate of the audience du@ing timeF of high Ft@eFF and
the Fo@@owF and joyF of EgyptianF f@om 1900 up to the g@eat unce@tainty. In my opinion, eventF Fu@@ounding
1950FJ the wo@kF of Salah Jahin, Salah abuNSeif and Naguib 23 July @evolution and the victo@y of 6 Octobe@ 19K3
Mahfouz we@e t@ue manifeFtationF of the mode@n context in deFe@ve mo@e @igo@ FtudieF by academicF of popula@
which they lived. ThiF context waF gene@ally cha@acte@ized cultu@e and public opinionJ in o@de@ to Fee how the
by f@ee delibe@ation of ideaF and yea@ning fo@ the valueF of media 8negotiated the meaning8 of theFe g@eat eventF
e5uity and national independence. and how the audience @eceived the intended meFFage.
Being legitimate FonF of the Revolution, the wo@kF of thoFe
able autho@F exp@eFFed the political d@ama Egypt
witneFFed fo@m the 1950F onwa@dF. MainFt@eam popula@
cultu@e a@gued fo@, and managed to change people?F
pe@ception about gende@ e5uality, @eligiouF tole@ance, and
the baFiF of claFF Ft@atification.

ELITE ISSUE 13, November 2019 Page 12