Egypt has returned from the cultural backwaters | Nesrine Malik

Once the dominant force in Arab culture, post-revolutionary Egypt now has the chance to return to this role I grew up in the post-Sadat Arab world. The 80s was a time when Egyptian drama, music and film monopolised Arabic media; we imbibed the Egyptian accent and colloquialisms as well as our local influences. The evening soap opera in most Arab countries was Egyptian, and I spent many an evening captivated by dramas set in Alexandria, Cairo and El Saeed. Cairo was the main holiday destination for other Arabs and many bought properties in the city. To some northern Sudanese, Cairo was a second home, almost as familiar as Khartoum. When I was a child, my mother would regale me with stories of growing up in the 60s and 70s; accounts of her and her siblings gathering around a crackling radio set to listen to Gamal Abdel Nasser’s speeches, of how when Abdel Halim Hafez, a renowned Egyptian classical singer, died, the shock reverberated in cities throughout the region. Post-independence Arab history always seems to involve Egypt in some crucial way. Egypt was the state that represented the Arabs in the international arena. Its politicians, entertainers, actors, musicians and writers featured prominently in Arabic popular culture. It had both rich heritage and an avant garde movement. Most people knew far more about Egypt and its culture than they had any business knowing. Gulf or Levantine influences were almost entirely absent from the Arab consciousness. The image of the Egypt I grew up with was not the one that met me when I eventually went to university in Cairo. Over the previous 20 years, the country’s stature had diminished both culturally and economically. The arrival of Arabsat and region-wide satellite channels in the 90s amplified Gulf culture, and with the end of the civil war in Lebanon, Levantine media seemed to take over the airwaves almost overnight. The stories that came out of Egypt became increasingly Dickensian and distressing: crushing poverty, sexual harassment, police brutality, corruption, religious tension, and a joke of a president. A far cry from the country that, having established itself politically ahead of the rest of the Arab states, reigned imperious. Politically, the fall was dramatic : “absent in Iraq, no genuine impact on the Arab-Israeli peace process and seen as complicit in sieges in Gaza”. But even with the petro-dollars pumped into media and construction in the Gulf, no nation ever managed to fill the void that Egypt left. Even the economically mighty Saudi Arabia, considered by the west to be the religious and historical centre of gravity of the region, never succeeded in forming a core or Arab culture. This is why, even though Tunisians have inspired the near miraculous events of the past few weeks in Libya, Bahrain and elsewhere, it is really Egypt that has inspired the Arab psyche. In a region where there is significant tension between nationalities, people flocked to the streets to welcome Egypt’s return to its rightful position. It was fascinating to note that in the immediate aftermath of Mubarak’s resignation, commentators and opinion formers on television channels echoed this sentiment. It wasn’t about the removal of a decrepit dictator, it was about the rebirth of Egypt. Dignity was the theme of the revolution. The songs, the chants, the placards, displayed a unique artfulness, spirit and a sense of humour. One Egyptian commentator, minutes after Mubarak resigned, said that now Egypt could return to penning the literature, music and drama that had produced Omar Sharif, Youssef Chahine and Naguib Mahfouz — it was the end of the era of “fallen art and kitsch popular culture”. The chant that resonated around the Arab world was ” ahom, ahom, el masriyeen ahom “, meaning “here, the Egyptians are here”. It heralded not the arrival, but the return of Egypt. Of course no one knows exactly what the future holds, and there will be an at times painful process of adjustment. But there is indeed a sense that the Egyptians are here, Egypt is back. And the Arab world, desperate for a leader in the absence of effective, representative heads of state, welcomes its return. Egypt Arab and Middle East protests Middle East Nesrine Malik guardian.co.uk

Posted by on February 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry