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CENSURING SOUNDS: TAPES, TASTE, AND THE CREATION OF EGYPTIAN CULTURE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2019

Andrew Simon
Andrew Simon*
Affiliation:
Andrew Simon is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.; e-mail: andrew.g.simon@dartmouth.edu
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Abstract

In this article, I argue that audiocassette technology decentralized state-controlled Egyptian media long before the advent of al-Jazeera and the Internet. By enabling any citizen to become a cultural producer, as opposed to a mere consumer, the mass medium and its users sparked significant anxiety in the mid-to-late 20th century, when contentious cassette recordings led many local critics to assert that “vulgar” tapes were poisoning public taste, undermining high culture, and endangering Egyptian society. This article breaks down these arguments and shows that audiotapes actually broadcast a vast variety of voices. Thus, underlying many criticisms of cassette content, I contend, was not simply a concern for aesthetic sensibilities but a desire to dictate who created Egyptian culture during a time of tremendous change. By unpacking these discussions, this article harnesses Egypt as a case study to enhance prevailing investigations of sound, popular culture, and mass media in Middle East studies.

Keywords

Egypthistorymediapopular culturesound
Type
Article
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 233 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

NOTES

Author's note: I would like to thank Ziad Fahmy, Jonathan Smolin, Tarek El-Ariss, Kholoud Hussein, and the editors and anonymous reviewers at IJMES for their sharp insights on this article. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the American Research Center in Egypt and the Social Science Research Council for generously supporting my research abroad. To my fellow panelists at MESA, at AHA, and in Tunisia, thank you for your comments and questions on Egypt's cassette culture.

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