Everyday, I take the bus to school. Sometimes, these are from the brand ISUZU. But mostly, they have names like Nasr Auto, Hashim, or others. Nasr Auto is the state owned company that was founded in 1960. But recently, it has been struggling competing with imports of cheap foreign brands, as it itself has not invented any distinct car model (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasr_(car_company)).
Why do I study Egyptian Arabic? Because it is the most widely spread Arab dialect. That is mainly due to the dominant position of Egyptian pop culture and media. This position is increasingly threatened by the gulf states and their money feeding into their own media outlets. Nevertheless, musicians of other Arab countries sing in Egyptian dialect to increase their audience. Egyptian movies are somewhat legendary until today. However, their "golden age" was in the fourties and fifties. My Arabic teacher talked about them with great fondness. Shem mentioned the great attention to detail and aestethics. Her remarks reminded me of the French and Italian cinema tradition that declined as the Egyptian did, just to make room to the sloppier, more entertaining style of U.S.-American cinema.
My teacher talks of the time of the Egyptian monarchy in general with great admiration. People used to take care of their surroundings, would clean the streets and the king would not be corrupt but take care of his people. In those days, between the twenties and fourties, Cairo was often compared to Paris and still today I meet Egyptians of different ages who look back on this era with great melancholy.
What happened that these things changed? Surely, international pressures increased. But something internal to Eypt has changed, too. The attitutde of the people, the degree of education and development. Why are so many things broken? Why is there so much neglect and disregard? Poverty is surely rampant, but does this explain it all? I wonder if there is a comprehensive book on the history of 20th century's Egypt...
Why do I study Egyptian Arabic? Because it is the most widely spread Arab dialect. That is mainly due to the dominant position of Egyptian pop culture and media. This position is increasingly threatened by the gulf states and their money feeding into their own media outlets. Nevertheless, musicians of other Arab countries sing in Egyptian dialect to increase their audience. Egyptian movies are somewhat legendary until today. However, their "golden age" was in the fourties and fifties. My Arabic teacher talked about them with great fondness. Shem mentioned the great attention to detail and aestethics. Her remarks reminded me of the French and Italian cinema tradition that declined as the Egyptian did, just to make room to the sloppier, more entertaining style of U.S.-American cinema.
My teacher talks of the time of the Egyptian monarchy in general with great admiration. People used to take care of their surroundings, would clean the streets and the king would not be corrupt but take care of his people. In those days, between the twenties and fourties, Cairo was often compared to Paris and still today I meet Egyptians of different ages who look back on this era with great melancholy.
What happened that these things changed? Surely, international pressures increased. But something internal to Eypt has changed, too. The attitutde of the people, the degree of education and development. Why are so many things broken? Why is there so much neglect and disregard? Poverty is surely rampant, but does this explain it all? I wonder if there is a comprehensive book on the history of 20th century's Egypt...
No comments:
Post a Comment