Mass Culture and Modernism in Egypt (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Series Number 102) - Softcover

Armbrust, Walter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521484928 ISBN 13: 9780521484923

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Book Description:

Providing fresh and vital insights into the long struggle of modern Egypt to define its identity, this study examines Egyptian television, recorded music, the press, and the cinema. It reveals the delicate balance between conservative nationalist imagery and a modernist ethic.

Review:

"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

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0521484928
• ISBN 13: 9780521484923
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292