Arab Women's Revolutionary Art

Beschreibung

“The Arab Revolutions invariably failed to cause democratic transformation, but they triggered significant changes in the social, cultural, and artistic domains. Nevine El Nossery’s important book highlights the ‘artistic revolution’ championed by women who brought creative works-- graffiti, street performance, photography, photo-texts, and comics-- to bear on defying illegitimate power and extend the horizon of emancipatory politics.” —Asef Bayat, Catherine & Bruce Bastian Professor of Global and transnational Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
This book examines the ways in which women in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa have re-imagined revolutionary discourses through creativity and collective action as a means of resistance. Encompassing a stunning array of forms and genres, such as graffiti, street performance, photography, phototexts, novels, and comics, the book draws from a vast spectrum of artistic production in revolutionary periods between 2011 and 2022 in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. El Nossery sheds light on women’s postrevolutionary artistic output by engaging an interdisciplinary approach: the book is divided into three sections which foreground the unique relationship between textual, visual, and performative modes as they intertwine with art and politics. Arab Women’s Revolutionary Art thereby aims to demonstrate how art, as always oriented towards an open future, can preserve the revolutionary spirit that was sparked in 2011 by documenting what happened and determining which stories would be told. The revolution, therefore, continues. 
Nevine El Nossery is Associate Professor in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her expertise extends to Francophone and postcolonial studies, women’s writing, art and politics. She is the author of Egypt in Focus: Creativity in Adversarial Contexts (co-edited volume, 2021); The Unspeakable: Representations of Trauma in Francophone Literature and Art (co-edited volume, 2013); Frictions et devenirs dans les écritures migrantes au féminin (co-edited volume, 2012); and Témoignages fictionnels au féminin. Une réécriture des blancs de la guerre civile algérienne (2012). 
This book examines the ways in which women in the contemporary Middle East and North Africa have re-imagined revolutionary discourses through creativity and collective action as a means of resistance. Encompassing a stunning array of forms and genres, such as graffiti, street performance, photography, phototexts, novels, and comics, the book draws from a vast spectrum of artistic production in revolutionary periods between 2011 and 2022 in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. El Nossery sheds light on women’s postrevolutionary artistic output by engaging an interdisciplinary approach: the book is divided into three sections which foreground the unique relationship between textual, visual, and performative modes as they intertwine with art and politics. Arab Women’s Revolutionary Art thereby aims to demonstrate how art, as always oriented towards an open future, can preserve the revolutionary spirit that was sparked in 2011 by documenting what happened and determining which stories would be told. The revolution, therefore, continues. 

Problematizes the conception of art in relation to the ongoing political and social transformations in the Arab world Offers a comparative analysis of women’s contributions to the artistic production of multiple revolutionary spaces Draws on original texts & interviews with artists to better understand the close relationship between art and politics

Autor*in

Nevine El Nossery

Themen in »Arab Women's Revolutionary Art«

Women in MENA Arab revolutions Women's post-revolutionary art Arab women and art Graffiti Arab women and culture Artistic productions of Arab women Arab Spring

Stimmen zu »Arab Women's Revolutionary Art«

“El Nossery’s work makes a valuable contribution to the study of artivism and the creative resistance of Arab women and makes a welcome contribution … . She highlights the complexities of their experiences, shedding light on how cultural, political, and social dynamics in the region shape their artistic expressions. In sum, El Nossery amplifies the narratives of those who are often marginalized, making her work an essential addition to the broader discussion of contemporary Arab art and activism.” (Noha Mellor, International Journal of Communication, Vol. 19, 2025)

“The Arab Revolutions invariably failed to cause democratic transformation, but they triggered significant changes in the social, cultural, and artistic domains. Nevine El Nossery’s important book highlights the ‘artistic revolution’ championed by women who brought creative works-- graffiti, street performance, photography, photo-texts, and comics-- to bear on defying illegitimate power and extend the horizon of emancipatory politics.” —Asef Bayat, Catherine & Bruce Bastian Professor of Global and transnational Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
“A highly original and compelling evaluation of women’s participation in redefining the public sphere in post-2010 Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco through art. Exploring an impressive range of artists and art forms, including literature, comics, graffiti and street performance, El Nossery’s rich analysis demonstrates the innovative ways in which women are using their work to call for a drasticimprovement of social, political and cultural conditions.” —Siobhán Shilton, Professor of French Studies and the Visual Arts, University of Bristol.
“This is a fresh re-visit of the results of the Arab uprisings with a focus on women’s arts to highlight the power of feminist revolutionary consciousness.  Rather than dismembering the artistic expression through the taxonomy of genre or nationality, this book reads the artistic scene transnationally. Re-visiting a past Utopia culturally is urgently needed to stand up to the rising Right-wing backlash against women.” —Shereen Abouelnaga, author of Women in Revolutionary Egypt. 
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