Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Expanded contents list
- List of maps, figures, and tables
- List of abbreviations
- Transcription, glosses, and transliterations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: language and identity in modern Egypt
- 1 Identity and beyond: setting the framework of analysis
- 2 A historical overview of the development of national identity in modern Egypt with reference to language: the formative period
- 3 “Arabic” indexes amidst a nation and a nation-state: ideologies, attitudes, and linguistic realities
- 4 Social attributes of Egyptian identity
- 5 Identity and narration in Egypt
- 6 The politics of identity and linguistic unrest: the case of the Egyptian Revolution
- 7 Conclusions
- Appendix: chronological list of songs examined
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Identity and beyond: setting the framework of analysis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Expanded contents list
- List of maps, figures, and tables
- List of abbreviations
- Transcription, glosses, and transliterations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: language and identity in modern Egypt
- 1 Identity and beyond: setting the framework of analysis
- 2 A historical overview of the development of national identity in modern Egypt with reference to language: the formative period
- 3 “Arabic” indexes amidst a nation and a nation-state: ideologies, attitudes, and linguistic realities
- 4 Social attributes of Egyptian identity
- 5 Identity and narration in Egypt
- 6 The politics of identity and linguistic unrest: the case of the Egyptian Revolution
- 7 Conclusions
- Appendix: chronological list of songs examined
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Zūzū: “What would you say to someone who does not answer a question?”
Professor: “If it is a question with no answer, then there is no problem if you refuse to answer it.”
Zūzū: “Well, why didn't you answer my question?”
Professor: “Because it is the most difficult question in the world. ‘Who are you?’ Do you actually know how to answer it yourself? And by the way, why do you ask me this question Miss Zūzū?”
Zūzū: “Because this is the main issue here. If someone comes to speak to me, I need to know who he is first in order to know why he said what he said. Once I know who you are, I will also know what you want.”
Professor: “I just noticed that your Arabic pronunciation is very good.”
(Khallī bālak min Zūzū, “Take care of Zūzū,” Dir. Ḥasan al-Imām, released in Egypt in 1972)Zūzū is a young Egyptian female student who comes across as intelligent, ambitious, bold, and yet tormented by her shameful family background. Her mother is an old belly-dancer who lives in a lower-class Cairene alley. While forging a different identity for herself, she is also conflicted throughout between allegiance to her old one and struggling to maintain a respectful new one. The moment she lays eyes upon the professor who will be directing a play at her university, she is swept off her feet.
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- Information
- Language and Identity in Modern Egypt , pp. 34 - 77Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2014