Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa

"This volume presents a thoughtful, empirically rich and timely contribution to the fields of Middle East and cultural studies." --Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations

"The triumph and value of Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa comes from its ability to pull together remarkable contributions from an international range of scholars in fields that range from ethnomusicology to Turkish politics…This is a collection that resists the flattening and simplification of the cultural terrain of the Muslim World and will be an oft-cited volume that will find a place on bookshelves. This is a trailblazing effort that sets the standard for balancing diversity and depth of scope through its nuanced analysis of cultural phenomena integrated into their sociopolitical and historical landscape." --Yasmine Motawy, American University in Cairo, Interventions

'The breadth and depth of the 15 essays offer an unprecedented contribution to understandings of contemporary cultural production in the region that raises critical issues in and about the public sphere…’ –--Contemporary Islam

"This edited volume surveys a wide array of cultural forms throughout the Arab world, Turkey, and Iran, as well as the United States’ own popular culture that reflects and propagates various discourses about the Middle East… El Hamamsy and Soliman frame the volume as an effort to raise awareness of not only Middle Eastern and North African popular culture, but especially of its scholarly value, in the context of states (such as Egypt) in which intellectuals and producers of elite culture are tightly invested in supporting state hegemony under the aegis of promoting ‘good’ over ‘bad’ mass-mediated culture."--Daniel J. Gilman, DePauw University, Journal of Arabic Literature

"Broad in geographical and disciplinary scope, the volume places literary and film scholars, anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists, among others, in conversation about the production and position of popular culture in the Middle East within the contemporary moment…What makes these chapters so compelling is the way the authors present diverse artistic practices as resistance against both dominant mainstream culture and different kinds of social, political, and ideological injustices." -- Yasmine Ramadan, Wellesley College, Arab Studies Journal

"Most of the book's articles were written before the Arab uprisings. Still, the book is timely. As its editors indicate, it examines popular culture in the immediately preceding period. And since one of the most significant achievements of the revolutions was to breathe life into the artistic scenes of the region, the book, and particularly its last chapter "The Aesthetics of the Revolution" can be a beginning to understanding those scenes today. Written by Hamamsy and Soliman on forms of popular creativity directly related to the Egyptian revolution, the chapter takes a close look at the art that came out of Tahrir Square, such as slogans, songs and graffiti, as well as art used for mobilizzation, such as al-Fan Midan, the Bassem Youssef Show, and independent activist cinemas, such as Mosireen and Kazeboon. By understanding the popular culture, one can hear the voices of the people." - www.madamasr.com