The Revolutionary Body Politic: Preliminary Thoughts on a Neglected Medium in the Arab Uprisings

When Aliaa al-Mahdy, a 20-year old student in communication at the American University in Cairo, posted nude photographs of herself on a blog she called "A Rebel's Diary," she unleashed one of the most heated polemics to come out of the Egyptian revolution that began on January 25, 20...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Middle East journal of culture and communication 2012, Vol.5 (1), p.66-74
Main Author: Kraidy, Marwan M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
body
media
nudity
secularists
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:When Aliaa al-Mahdy, a 20-year old student in communication at the American University in Cairo, posted nude photographs of herself on a blog she called "A Rebel's Diary," she unleashed one of the most heated polemics to come out of the Egyptian revolution that began on January 25, 2011 and deposed Hosni Mubarak less than one month later. This essay, written in the days after the scandal broke in November 2011, raises preliminary questions about what responses to Aliaa's defiant act might reveal about revolutionary politics. In the essay I argue that the polemic surrounding Aliaa can be understood in the contexts of other incidents of the Arab uprisings, beginning with Bouazizi's self-immolation, that invite us to consider, explore and theorize the human body as a vital medium in the Arab uprisings.
ISSN:1873-9857
1873-9865
1873-9857
DOI:10.1163/187398612X624382