Midnight in Cairo (Paperback)

Raphael Cormack

ISBN 10: 1324021934 / ISBN 13: 9781324021933

Published by WW Norton & Co, New York, 2022

About this Item

Paperback. One of the worlds most multicultural cities, twentieth-century Cairo was a magnet for the ambitious and talented. During the 1920s and 30s, a vibrant music, theater, film, and cabaret scene flourished, defining what it meant to be a modern Egyptian. Women came to dominate the Egyptian entertainment industryas stars of the stage and screen but also as impresarias, entrepreneurs, owners, and promoters of a new and strikingly modern entertainment industry. Raphael Cormack unveils the rich histories of independent, enterprising women like vaudeville star Rose al-Youssef (who launched one of Cairos most important newspapers); nightclub singer Mounira al-Mahdiyya (the first woman to lead an Egyptian theater company) and her great rival, Oum Kalthoum (still venerated for her soulful lyrics); and other fabulous female stars of the interwar period, a time marked by excess and unheard-of freedom of expression. Buffeted by crosswinds of colonialism and nationalism, conservatism and liberalism, religious and secular values, patriarchy and feminism, this new generation of celebrities offered a new vision for women in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. A vibrant portrait of the talented and entrepreneurial women who defined an era in Cairo. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781324021933

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Midnight in Cairo (Paperback)
• Publisher: WW Norton & Co, New York
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1324021934
• ISBN 13: 9781324021933
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A vibrant portrait of the talented and entrepreneurial women who defined an era in Cairo.

One of the world’s most multicultural cities, twentieth-century Cairo was a magnet for the ambitious and talented. During the 1920s and ’30s, a vibrant music, theater, film, and cabaret scene flourished, defining what it meant to be a “modern” Egyptian. Women came to dominate the Egyptian entertainment industry―as stars of the stage and screen but also as impresarias, entrepreneurs, owners, and promoters of a new and strikingly modern entertainment industry.

Raphael Cormack unveils the rich histories of independent, enterprising women like vaudeville star Rose al-Youssef (who launched one of Cairo’s most important newspapers); nightclub singer Mounira al-Mahdiyya (the first woman to lead an Egyptian theater company) and her great rival, Oum Kalthoum (still venerated for her soulful lyrics); and other fabulous female stars of the interwar period, a time marked by excess and unheard-of freedom of expression. Buffeted by crosswinds of colonialism and nationalism, conservatism and liberalism, “religious” and “secular” values, patriarchy and feminism, this new generation of celebrities offered a new vision for women in Egypt and throughout the Middle East.

25 illustrations

About the Author

Raphael Cormack is an award-winning editor, translator, and writer. The author of Midnight in Cairo, Cormack is assistant professor of modern languages and cultures at Durham University in the United Kingdom.