From pharaoh to hero: contested constructions of Mubarak’s image in Egyptian post-uprising collective memory

Abstract

ABSTRACT The 2011 Egyptian uprising, which ended President Husni Mubarak’s thirty-year rule, initially painted him as a pharaoh. However, more than a decade since his overthrow, Mubarak’s image is variedly invoked and embodied across Egypt. Schools, hospitals, streets, and squares proudly bear his name. Social media groups glorify his memory, while locals openly express longing for his era. Unlike other deposed Arab leaders during the ‘Arab Spring’, Mubarak received a state military funeral, elevating him to a revered patriot and hero. This paper explores the constructions of Mubarak’s image in Egyptian collective memory, at the official and vernacular levels. The paper’s core argument emphasizes that during the transition period, revolutionary forces shaped a negative public memory of Mubarak. Yet in recent years, the resurgence of authoritarianism has marginalized these forces, allowing pro-Mubarak factions to advance a positive depiction, idealizing his legacy, and fostering feelings of regret. The post-June 2013 official narrative regarding Mubarak delicately manoeuvres between these competing narratives. It exalts his military role in the 1973 war while undermining his political heritage, thereby preventing any single narrative from dominating and thwarting influential factions in civil society from challenging the regime’s resilience with a political alternative.