Abstract
This paper explores some of the ways that the Internet, and particularly the practice of blogging, has opened up new political possibilities in Egypt. As I examine, political bloggers in this country (Islamist as well as secularist) have pioneered new language forms and video styles in order to articulate an arena of political life they refer to as “the street.” Egyptian bloggers render visible and publicly speakable practices of state violence that other media outlets cannot easily disclose. In discussing the sensory epistemology informing these blogging practices, I give particular attention to the way traditions concerning the sonority of the Arabic language and the relation of written to spoken forms are exploited and reworked by some of Egypt’s most prominent political bloggers. I also examine how these language practices find a visual and aural analogy in the grainy cellphone video recordings found on many of Egypt’s political blogs. This paper analyzes such practices in relation to emergent forms of political agency and contestation in contemporary Egypt.
Highlights
On April 6th, 2008, a general strike took place in Egypt, an event which saw vast numbers of workers and students stay home from their sites of work or school
The blogosphere that burst into existence in Egypt around 2004 and 2005 in many ways provided a new context for a process that had begun somewhat earlier, in the late 1990s: namely, the development of practices of coordination and support between secular leftist organizations and associations, and Islamist ones —a phenomenon almost completely absent in the prior decades
Leading Islamist writers such as Fahmi Howeidi, ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Messiri, and Tarek al-Bishri had attempted to build a movement that would bring about an end to the rampant corruption afflicting Egypt’s political institutions and establish a solid basis for representative governance; but their viewpoints generally remained marginal within Islamist political currents, and the organizations they tried to establish were largely undermined by the state
Summary
This paper explores some of the ways that the Internet, and the practice of blogging, has opened up new political possibilities in Egypt. I examine how these language practices find a visual and aural analogy in the grainy cellphone video recordings found on many of Egypt’s political blogs. This paper analyzes such practices in relation to emergent forms of political agency and contestation in contemporary Egypt. El autor explora algunos de los modos como Internet, en particular el escribir y publicar en un blog, ha abierto nuevas posibilidades políticas en Egipto. El autor se detiene especialmente en el modo como los blogueros políticos más sobresalientes del país recurren y adaptan las tradiciones relativas a la sonoridad de la lengua árabe y a la conexión que existe en ella entre las formas habladas y las escritas. Palabras clave: Egipto, Blogsfera, Disidencia política, Islamistas, Laicistas, Política de las sensaciones
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