The Handbook of Media and Culture in the Middle East is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand the profound and complex changes shaping the 21st century. With trans-regional contributions from established and emerging scholars, this ground-breaking volume offers conceptual essays and in-depth chapters that present rich analyses grounded in historical and geopolitical contexts, as well as key theory and empirical research.
Rather than viewing the Middle East as a monolithic culture, this Handbook examines the diverse and multi-local characteristics of the region’s knowledge production, dynamic media, and rich cultures. It addresses a wide range of topics, including the evolving mainstream and alternative media, competing histories in the region, and pressing socio-economic and media debates. Additionally, the Handbook explores the impact of regional and international politics on Middle Eastern cultures and media.
Designed to serve as a foundation for the next era of research in the field, The Handbook of Media and Culture in the Middle East is essential reading for all academics, scholars, and media practitioners. Its comprehensive scope makes it an excellent primary or supplementary textbook for undergraduate or graduate courses in global studies, media and communication, journalism, anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, and history.
Table of Contents
Notes on Contributors ix
Series Editors' Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xix
Media and Culture in the Middle East: An Introduction 1
Part I Theories, Ideologies, and Problematics 13
1 Orientalism and Culture 15
Annabelle Sreberny
2 Muslims, Art, and Invisible Modernities 23
Nabil Echchaibi
3 Development and Modernization in the Middle East 30
Karin Gwinn Wilkins
4 Hybridity as Dazzlement: Rethinking Fusion Through Joseph Tonda's Postcolonial Imperialism 37
Marwan M. Kraidy
5 "Arab" Cultural Studies: Phenomenology Being Digital, and Other Notes 45
Tarik Sabry
Part II Politics, Gender, Minorities, and Class 53
6 Intellectuals, Modernities, and the Emerging Public Sphere 55
Gholam Khiabany
7 Feminisms and Feminist Movements in the Middle East 65
Gül Aldikacti Marshall
8 The State, the Media, and the Revival of Labor Activism in the Middle East 73
Anne Alexander
9 The Meaning and Purpose of "Minority Media" in the Middle East and North Africa 82
Elizabeth Monier
Part III Media Industries, Markets, and Technologies 91
10 Media Policy in the MENA: The Political Impact of Media Confluence 93
Tourya Guaaybess
11 Journalism in MENA: Triumph and Tragedy in the Struggle to Speak Truth to Power 107
Lawrence Pintak
12 Purposes and Practices of MENA Television: Components of an Ever-evolving Medium 122
Naomi Sakr
13 Digital MENA: An Overview of Digital Infrastructure, Policies, and Media Practices in the Middle upload East and North Africa 134
Carola Richter
14 Documents, Archives, Absence: Current Challenges and Insights from Media Research in the Middle East and Beyond 147
Hatim El-Hibri and Kaveh Askari
Part IV (Mass) Media, Cultures, and Contexts 163
15 Freedom of Expression and Media Challenges in the Mena Region: A Legal and Regulatory Perspective 165
Joan Barata
16 Arabic News Channels in the Middle East: Development and Transformation 178
Yushi Chiba
17 MENA Independent Media: Negotiating the Logics of Media Development Programs 191
Yazan Badran
18 Divergence or Convergence between Mainstream and Independent Journalism in Turkey?: The Coverage of Operation Peace Spring 205
Ozan Asik
19 Kurdish Cinema: Politics, Aesthetics, and Transnational Pathways 219
Suncem Kocer
20 Aesthetic Arabism: The Syrian Musalsal Beyond Borders 231
Christa Salamandra
21 The Dynamics of Advertising in MENA: An Empirical Model 245
Ilhem Allagui
22 Reconfigurations of Religiopolitical Traditions and Identities: Mediated Religion in the Arab Countries 261
Ehab Galal
23 Constructing a New Identity: Women's Work in the Iranian Broadcast Media 275
Asemeh Ghasemi
24 Mediations of Political Identities in Arab Animation 286
Omar Sayfo
25 Breaking Barriers: The Emergence of a Video Game Culture and Industry in the Arab World 300
Vít Sisler, Lars de Wildt, and Samer Abbas
Part V Alternative, Independent, and Social Media 313
26 Taking Revolution Seriously: A Keywords Approach to Middle East Studies 315
Omar Al-Ghazzi
27 Alternative and Citizen Journalism(s) in the Middle East 326
Marianna Ghiglia
28 A Revolution of Smiles?: The Function of Humor in Algerian Media During the 2019-2020 Protests 340
Ali Sonay
29 Creating Emotional Echo-Chambers: Activism and Self-Expression on Social Media 352
Hande Eslen-Ziya
30 Mnemotechnics: Digital Epistemologies and the Techno-Politics of Archiving a Revolution 363
Anthony Downey
31 Media Technologies and Politics in Iran 382
Mehdi Semati
32 Reframing Jihadism: Deciphering the Identity, Politics, and Agenda of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in Northwest Syria 396
Ines Khalifa Barnard and Charlie Winter
33 Beyond the Arab Uprisings: Politics of Rap in the Middle East 414
Stefano Barone
34 Egyptian Graffiti: Collective Action and Institutionalization 427
Mohammad Abdel Hamid
35 Quiet Queer Activism in Repressive Contexts in the Middle East Through the Stories of Three Egyptian Women 440
Shaimaa Magued
36 Social Media and Fourth Wave Feminism in Morocco 453
Naziha Houki, Alka Kurian, and Kenza Oumlil
37 The Kurdish Media in the Middle East and Diaspora: Alternative Public and Participatory Spaces for a Non-State Nation 468
Jiyar Aghapouri
38 Arab American Media 479
William Lafi Youmans
39 Contemporary Arab Media and Cultural Landscape in Istanbul 492
Franck Mermier
Part VI Perspectives 503
40 Cultural Politics of the Diaspora 505
Orit Ouaknine-Yekutieli and Yigal Nizri
41 Dialectics of Resistance: Youth in the Middle East 513
Joe F. Khalil
42 Borders 520
Helga Tawil-Souri
43 Activism and Surveillance in the Middle East 526
Bilge Yesil
Index 535
