shifting borders: america and the middle east /north...

Alex LubinEditor

Nancy Batakji SanyouraAssociate Editor

Lisa Arnold, Emily Tess WolterstorffEditorial Assistants

Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference Sponsored by The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research at the American University of Beirut

Shifting Borders: America and the Middle East /North Africa

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Designed and produced by the Office of Communications at AUB | 2014

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) is a private, independent, non-sectarian institution of higher learning, founded in 1866. It functions under a charter from the State of New York and is governed by an autonomous Board of Trustees. The University currently has over 7,500 students in six faculties. AUB currently offers more than 100 programs leading to the bachelor’s, master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. The University is co-educational. The language of instruction is English (except for courses in the Arabic Department).The University is led by Professor Peter Dorman, President, and Professor Ahmad Dallal, Provost.

The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR)CASAR is dedicated to increasing international understanding primarily by increasing knowledge of the United States in the Middle East. The center pursues its goals through interdisciplinary teaching and research in American Studies and through outreach efforts such as conferences and public lectures. CASAR’s efforts are continuously evolving. It currently offers a Minor in American Studies. Its research agenda focuses on Arab/American encounters. CASAR was established in 2003 as a result of a generous endowment from His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud. CASAR is part of AUB’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Professor Patrick McGreevy, Dean).

CASARDirector: Robert MyersAssistant to the Director: Nancy Batakji Sanyoura

CASAR Executive CommitteeDr. Joshua Andresen Philosophy DepartmentDr. Sirene Harb English Department Dr. John Pedro Shwartz English Department Dr. Adam John Waterman English Department Dr. Waleed Hazbun Political Studies and Public Administration Department

CASAR International Advisory Board Dr. Djelal Kadir, Pennsylvania State UniversityDr. Amy Kaplan, The University of Pennsylvania Dr. Stanley Katz, Princeton UniversityMr. Rami Khouri, American University of BeirutDr. Scott Lucas, University of BirminghamDr. Melani McAlister, George Washington University

Shifting Borders: America and the

Middle East /North Africa

Alex LubinEditor





Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction 13 Alex Lubin

Opening Remarks 19 Patrick McGreevy

Remarks at the Opening of CASAR’s Fourth Biennial Conferenceon “Shifting Borders: America and the Middle East/North Africa” 23

Ahmad Dallal

Opening Comments 27Rami G. Khouri

Interdependencies

The United States of Al-Andalus:Islam and the Critique of Covenantalism in Washington Irving 43

Adam John Waterman

Routes and Itineraries of Culture in the New Mediterranean:Or, Algiers, Capital of Modernity 51

Jonathan H. Shannon

©2014 American University of Beirut Press

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The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this book are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to the American University of Beirut, to its affiliated organizations, or to members of its Board of Trustees.

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ISBN 978-9953-586-06-9

6 7

Reimagining Pilgrimage:Shifting Our Reading of Melville, Twain, and Others for Today 65

Basem L. Ra‘ad

From the West Coast to Tangier:Translocal Hip-Hop in the New Morocco 81

Cristina Moreno Almeida

Shifting the Periphery

“That is No Country for Old Men”:Shifting of Literary Borders by “Merit”-Based EgyptianFiction Writers 95

Osama Madany

Arab Occidentalism:Images of America in Egyptian Fiction and Cinema 107

Eid Mohamed

The Anglo-American Lives of Ras Beirut 121Maria Bashshur Abunnasr

Translating Revolution:Khayri Hammad Reads Hannah Arendt 135

Jens Hanssen

Up in the Air and on the Skin:Wafaa Bilal, Drone Warfare, and the Human Terrain 147

Ronak K. Kapadia

Averted Gazes, Deferred Consumption:Osama bin Laden’s Cinematic Life and Death 165

Paul Jahshan

Textual BorderlandsCo-constructing America and Pakistan:Hybridity and Transculturality in Pakistani English Fiction 181

Shirin Zubair

Border Shifting in Naomi Nye’s Habibi 195 Tawfiq Yousef

At the Border of the Imagination:Crossing Over from Arab to Arab American 207

Salah D. Hassan

On the Road to Democracy: Spoken-Word Poetry Poeticizing the Revolution 217

Maha El Said

“Egypt . . . isn’t that in Switzerland?” American Cartoons and the Egyptian Revolution 235

Walid El Hamamsy

Geopolitics

Arab Spring or New Arab Cold War? Revolutions, Counter-Revolutions, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East 253

Osamah Khalil

“Black May” in Lebanon? U.S. Intervention and the Lebanese Crisis of 1973 263

Nate George

When the Qur’an was America’s Weaponfor Freedom in the Middle East: Muhammad Siblini and the Defeat of the Axis in North Africa 281

Sean Foley

8

Tercer Mundo Otra Vez: Latin America, Arab Africa, and Arab Asia Challenge Neo-Liberalism 295

Jaime Veve

Locating Palestine

The U.S. Academic Left and the Movements to Boycott Israel 307Malini Johar Schueller

Native American and Indigenous Studies and the Ethical Question of Boycotting Israel 321

J. K haulani Kauanui

Contesting the Foreign/Domestic Divide:Arab Revolutions and American Studies 331

Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi

TEXTUAL BORDERLANDS

235

“Egypt . . . isn’t that in Switzerland?” American Cartoons and the Egyptian Revolution

Walid El Hamamsy

Cairo University

Introduction

The question quoted in the title of this paper is actually a firsthand reaction

I once received from an American citizen during a visit to the U.S. Inasmuch

as her question can be interpreted as a simple cultural faux pas, it has deeper

ramifications in that it is symptomatic of the reluctance to approach cultural

“otherness” and the contentment with border thinking that besets many

Western cultures. In this paper, I examine two types of popular hemispheric

American reaction to Egypt’s 2011 revolution (January 25–February 11):

American cartoons produced by a variety of U.S. artists and the work of

Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff. This comparison shows two undercurrents

that I consider within a transnational context. I show how the former group’s

cartoons do not exceed the boundaries of essentialist Orientalist cultural

symbology, whereas Latuff’s work constitutes an example that bypasses the

limitations of stereotypical representation. I also highlight the widespread

circulation of Latuff’s work among Egyptians as proof of the success of

such examples of South-South dialogue. Additionally, I analyze a number of

factors that have led to the success of Latuff’s work, which helps underscore

the consequences of Orientalist representations on cultural dialogue between

the U.S. and the Arab world.

American Orientalism Post-Said

In a recent lecture given on Edward Said’s birthday, John Carlos Rowe1 built on

Said’s notion of European Orientalism2 to develop his own view of American

post-Said Orientalism. Showing how American Studies has paid relatively

little attention to Arab and Islamic cultures until recently, Rowe proposes

that the latter has been “feminized, marginalized, minoritized, and above

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“Egypt . . . isn’t that in Switzerland?”Textual Borderlands

all linguistically and culturally excluded from . . . Western discourse.”3 He

traces the shift American Orientalism has undergone since Said toward what

he terms “internalization” – a strategy by which the traditional “Orient” is

“domesticated” and “displaced” within the U.S. context, directly serving U.S.

imperial expansion. Creating “American Talibans” and “American Iranians”

(Rowe’s examples focus on John Walker Lindh and Azar Nafisi), this new

American Orientalism gains a fresh vantage point through which to create

cultural narratives wherein the protagonists “are rendered ‘representative’

Americans, whereas the Middle Eastern actors are generally demonized as

‘enemy combatants’ or at best subaltern ‘mediators.’”4

North/Central American Cartoons: Internalization or Exoticization

Though I agree with Rowe’s above analysis inasmuch as it applies to the

examples he analyzes, in this paper I argue that his thesis of internalization does

not fully apply to the Egyptian model as exemplified through representations

of the revolution in many American cartoons. In the samples I tackle below,

Egyptian culture is in fact far from internalized by American discourse. For

even if they do not demonize, sexualize, and racialize this Egyptian “other,”

such cartoons exoticize the Egyptian citizen for their American audiences,

reducing representation of the former to a set of pyramids, sphinxes,

mummies, and camels. And many of the Egyptians seen in these cartoons are

visually and metaphorically projected onto such a distant historical plain that

the pyramid-dwelling Egyptian represented therein would mean absolutely

nothing to the modern iPad-carrying, Facebook-using, Twitter-hashtagging

American citizen.

Consider, for instance, Clay Bennett’s cartoon, “Egypt,”5 showing an

Egyptian man removing the top of the pyramid of autocracy (the three letters

“AUT” of the word “AUTOCRACY”) with two pairs of men by his side

waiting to replace it with one of two alternative tops: “THEOCRACY” or

“DEMOCRACY” (represented by another two sets of three letters: “DEM”

and “THE”). Although these terms have a serious and direct bearing on

Egypt’s future, the cartoon is detached from the two alternatives, implying

that it does not matter which one is chosen in the end: building pyramids is

what Egyptians do best. And if Bennett’s pyramid stands for Egypt, Marshall

Ramsey’s cartoon6 represents the despot, Mubarak, himself. Ramsey’s piece

follows logically in the footsteps of the previous cartoon. For what space

would the pyramid-dwelling Egyptians inhabit except the desert, exposed

to sandstorms, the description he aptly chooses to caption his cartoon?

Ultimately, however, it is Steve Breen’s “The Camel’s Nose”7 that exposes

the ideology behind such cartoons. Not only is Egypt holistically lumped

together as an Arabian Nights-inspired tent, but the tent itself is immersed

in total darkness. The camel dubbed “democracy” – the only living creature

in the cartoon – is shown nosing under the tent’s rim and seems to pose the

question: Can a bunch of Bedouins lumped in a tent get beyond a “camel’s

nose” of democracy within the bounds of their dark ignorance? The piece’s

cultural biases (symbolically represented by the tent, camel, and darkness) are

too obvious to warrant any elaboration.

Naturally, in such and similar cartoons, pharaonic symbols abound. Take,

for example, Bill Day’s Mubarak-Sphinx8 crushing the fragile and almost

invisible flower of democracy between his toes; Henry Payne’s use of the same

Mubarak-Sphinx symbol9 answering the Sphinx’s riddle about what happens

to dictators who rig elections; or Dana Summers’s black-suited Mubarak10

being carried, in a mummy posture, by protestors into the “Cairo Museum

of Antiquities.” Summers’s cartoon is especially intriguing not only because

no such institution exists – unless what is meant is “The Museum of Egyptian

Antiquities,” – but also because of the visual symbolism of Mubarak’s black

suit, white shirt, and red necktie, which together represent the colors of the

Egyptian flag. The message is ambiguous: Is it Mubarak going to history’s

museum, or Egypt itself, which is metonymically represented through its flag?

The implicit answer seems to be, once again: Who cares? The mummy and

museum are there!

In such cartoons, cultural distance is maintained. As a cartoonist, you

are asked to produce a piece on Egypt and revolution, you toss in all the

symbols you can imagine about Egypt and mix them with yet another symbol

that connotes revolution. Presto, there you have it! But this formula ignores

that there are real people behind the revolution and that the revolution

itself is real. Take how social networking and internet sites – key factors

in disseminating calls for protest and countering the brutality of the former

regime – have been highlighted and analyzed by various researchers.11 Egypt’s

“electronic revolution” is reduced to a set of signal-transmitting pyramids

in Matt Davies’s12 “Talk Like an Egyptian.”13 Here, the internet becomes

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a pyramid when it “travels” to Egypt, standing erect on Egyptian sand

against a background of unidentifiable sand dunes. Alas, there are no people

in this “antique land”! Or consider Chris Britt’s “Egypt’s Ancient Desire

for Freedom,”14 in which the only people shown are pharaohs facing an

overpowering and threatening Anubis-like Egypt. In this cartoon, the Twitter

logo becomes yet another hieroglyph on another temple wall. Egyptian internet

is thus “Pharaonicized.” The status of this image is especially problematic

due to the placement of the pharaohs (demonstrator stand-ins), barred by

lines from the Twitter logo above and another hieroglyph-like inscription,

“Freedom,” below them. Can pharaohs tweet? Can they ever have access

to freedom? The logical inconsistency of pharaohs using Twitter seems to

imply an answer in the negative. More confounding is why demonstrators

are shown confronting a repressive Egypt, when the demonstrators’ aim is

precisely to liberate that Egypt – and themselves – from the tight grip of

dictatorship. Representing Egypt as the evil enemy in this context seems

to reveal much ignorance and lack of genuine interest in facts and realistic

representation. Clearly, the focus is covering the revolution rather than the

nature of the revolution.15

Reception: The Ideological Context

Though one can go on analyzing an endless number of examples,16 what I

would like to consider now is the reception of such cartoons by their subject

matter and their audience. For far from aiming to incite hostility or hatred

toward the revolution, such cartoons are mostly sympathetic to the protests

and their instigators. Herein precisely lies their danger, for such cartoons end

up distorting the Egyptian reality they seek to represent. And I, an Egyptian

protestor and protest-supporting citizen, do not see myself in them. They do

not speak to, represent, or resonate with me in any meaningful way. They

do not, in fact, do anything but provide a touristic view of the revolution. In

these cartoons, I remain under the other’s gaze, just as Rob Rogers’s tourists

look at a Mubarak mummy through a magnifying glass in his cartoon,

tellingly entitled “Ancient Egypt.”17 Except in these cartoons, it is the reader,

not Mubarak, who is “mummified” and “stuck in the past” with these silly

stereotypical images.

In so diluting and distancing the Egyptian reality, there is very little to

which the average American, the cartoons’ presumed target audience, can

relate. For this audience, the Egyptian revolution takes place within temples

and museums. The latent pervasive ideology that is leaked through such

popular representations has wider ramifications beyond the quotidian. The

most dangerous political consequence of this visual representation lies in

absolving the American citizen, and by extension the Obama administration,

of any moral responsibility toward the Egyptian revolution, be that in the

form of support or pressure. It is a pharaoh’s business, a revolution in

hieroglyphics. There is nothing for present-day Americans to meddle with in

this ancient land’s revolution except voyeuristic observation.

Carlos Latuff: Bridging the Cultural Gap

Turning now to the other typology of popular representation of the revolution,

I argue that Carlos Latuff’s work is diametrically opposed to the above

samples, precisely bridging the cultural distance that such examples do not

dare approach. Thus, while they remain distant, disengaged, and politically

sterilized, Latuff’s work gets down and dirty; it is involved, representative,

and realistic. But what are the features that characterize Latuff’s cartoons,

and which have contributed to Egyptians’ immediate identification with

them?

Cultural Specificity: From Pharaohs to Flesh and Blood

A key reason that Latuff’s cartoons have immediately resonated with

Egyptians is that his work represents real Egyptians with real concerns.

Any cursory look at his cartoons would show contemporary figures with

whom Egyptians would instantaneously recognize and identify. For example,

Khaled Said – a young Alexandrian tortured to death at the hands of police

forces and one of the major reasons behind the protests of January 25 – is

represented in one cartoon standing triumphant with a dangling, sweating,

and dwarfed Mubarak between his fingers (Image 1).18 In another cartoon,

Khaled Said is depicted wearing a t-shirt in the form of a map of Egypt

representing all Egyptians, roaring at his compatriots to “wake up,” which

deafens yet another identifiable figure, Habib El Adly, Minister of the

Interior, at whose forces’ hands Khaled was beaten to death.19 Dina Abdel

Rahman, a TV talk show host fired from Dream TV by the Supreme Council

for Armed Forces (SCAF) for criticizing their actions, is shown in another

cartoon being violently silenced by a member of SCAF (Image 2). Another

240 241


cartoon focuses on Hazem Abdel Azim, a Minister of Telecommunications

with politically progressive views, who was excluded from cabinet in July

before taking the oath upon alleged accusations spread by SCAF about his

dealings with Israeli telecommunication companies; the cartoon shows a

member of SCAF tripping him, using the suspicious and disrespected (in the

eyes of many) tabloid The Seventh Day (السابع deployed by SCAF to ,(اليوم

spread its allegations about him.20 The use of such culture-specific figures

connotes Latuff’s understanding of the events, despite his physical distance

from them. Unlike the earlier samples, the inclusion of such real figures

within the cartoons signals a genuine engagement with key turning-points in

the history of the revolution.

Even when drawing less immediately recognizable laypeople, Latuff’s

work is marked by variety and reflects the diversity and reality of Egyptian

citizens, thus enhancing viewers’ identification with his work. Take, for

instance, the young male football player clad in the colors of the Egyptian

flag with “January 25” transcribed on his uniform: he gives Mubarak a

kick on the bottom, the latter shown as a ball thrown helplessly in mid-air

(Image 3).22 Or consider the young veiled woman, dressed in almost identical

colors, tweeting away with a threatening SCAF snake waiting behind her

back (Image 4).23 The latter is a reference to accusations against activist

Asmaa Mahfouz for inciting violence against SCAF through Twitter, yet the

fact that her face is hardly visible in the cartoon highlights instead her status

as an average young Egyptian woman and pays tribute to women’s general

participation in the revolution. Though I focus on these two examples, it

must be noted that Latuff’s cartoons tend to reflect real Egyptian society and

values, portraying a variety of citizens, from male to female, veiled to non-

veiled, young to old – as shown in his cartoon of three ghosts of martyrs of

the revolution, who are dressed in the colors of the Egyptian flag and shout

“democracy” at a tortured SCAF member running away from their screams.24

The image simultaneously acknowledges the diversity of the demonstrators as

well as the reality of blood spilled and lives lost – a fact especially appreciated

by Egyptian dissidents in light of SCAF’s shift in discourse and constant

attempts to misrepresent martyrs and activists as baltagiya (thugs) through its

manipulation of state-owned media, which is seen by many as a propaganda

machine for SCAF.

A Visual Archive

The significance of Latuff’s work lies both in its immediacy and its continuity.

Put together, his cartoons visually constitute a chronological timeline of the

Egyptian revolution. For example, in one cartoon (Image 5), Latuff explicitly

condemns Vodafone for its January 28th blockade of internet services by the

government.25 In another, referring to the February 11th Egyptian victory at

Mubarak’s resignation, Latuff depicts young democracy taking Mubarak’s

place.26 In other cartoons, Latuff depicts the July 8th demonstrations that

called for the immediate prosecution of former officials,27 as well as the

threats made by SCAF’s General Fangari to the same demonstrators; here,

Fangari is depicted as a marionette with a hidden Mubarak as his actual

puppeteer (Image 6).28 Additionally, Latuff deals with SCAF’s clamp-down

Image 121 Image 2

Image 3 Image 4

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on demonstrators on August 1st, the first day of the Islamic month of

Ramadan (showing a SCAF member ironically wishing the woman carrying

a photograph of the martyr, Khaled Said, a happy Ramadan (كريم ;(رمضان

in another cartoon, Latuff depicts Ahmed Harara, a doctor-activist who

lost both his eyes in brutal confrontations with the police and Central

Security Forces in January and November, respectively.30 And in December

2011, Latuff dealt with retired General Kato’s hate-inciting statement that

demonstrators deserve to be burned in Hitler’s ovens.31

Clearly, Latuff’s cartoons have kept abreast of political developments in

Egypt on an almost daily basis. Moreover, the appeal of such cartoons is

enhanced by their adoption of Egyptian-specific humor and inclusion of such

cultural signifiers as have been mocked by Egyptians themselves – Fangari’s

threatening “finger,” Kato’s “ovens,” or Mubarak’s nose-picking during the

first hearing of his trials for killing protestors on August 3rd. Latuff’s cartoon

exposes Mubarak as a performer with cameras on a set, his lawyer prompting

him to act as victim with the words “الضحية دور العب . . . Well“) ”!!حسناً .. اآلن

now play the victim!!”) coming out of a hand-held microphone.32

Arabic as a Medium of Communication

Finally, one of the most significant reasons why Latuff’s cartoons gained

immediate resonance with Egyptians is their conscious inclusion of Arabic text.

Many of the examples I have analyzed above incorporate Arabic words such

as “شهيد” (martyr), “ديموقراطية” (democracy), and even Dina Abdel Rahman’s

name written in Arabic. But Arabic phrases and sometimes sentences can

also feature more prominently in Latuff’s work as the only commentary in

some of his images. Examples include a rendition in Arabic of a protestor

reprimanding a soldier with his reproachful plea: “Egyptian soldier, do not

attack your own people”33 (“وناسك أهلك متهاجمش مصري يا عسكري in which ,(”يا

the protestor and soldier share exactly the same facial features to further

exacerbate the paradox of the soldier’s offense (Image 7).34 Another cartoon

uses the slogan adopted by many demonstrators: “No to Military Trials for

Civilians” (“ًالمدنيين عسكريا In another cartoon, Latuff articulates .(”ال لمحاكمة

his own appeal to Egyptian citizens in Arabic as a result of collaboration with

Egyptian graphic designer and photographer Mohammed Gaber (another

sign of Latuff’s genuine interest in Egyptian culture, revolution, and artists):

الثورة“ 36 In this cartoon, the text is written.(”Be with the revolution“) ”كن مع

in Arabic calligraphy in the colors of the Egyptian flag; the cartoon’s top

right-hand corner shows a hand carrying the flag, and its bottom left-hand

corner shows Mubarak trampled under a demonstrator’s shoe (Image 8). The

text was at once adopted by many Egyptians as one of the insignia of the

revolution, printed on t-shirts and worn in different contexts as a resistance

symbol to the many SCAF-instigated attempts to bring down the revolution.

To my mind, this cartoon is a key reason that Latuff has earned such favorable

and appreciative appellations, many of which are now widely used among

Egyptians on social networks, including: “فنان الثورة المصرية” (“The artist of the

Egyptian Revolution”) and “ثورة 25 يناير Cartoonist of the January 25“) ”رسام

Revolution”).37

Conclusion

I have attempted to show two very different American models of cartoons

depicting popular accounts of the Egyptian revolution. The samples I

have showcased reflect two foci in presenting the same historical events,

Image 5 Image 6

Image 7 Image 8

244 245


highlighting the element of choice in the artists’ representation. Clearly,

Latuff’s realistic depiction of the revolution, his direct engagement with

its events, and his constant attempts to address a primarily Egyptian/Arab

audience38 have no equivalent in the first model. The two models clearly

illustrate a difference of allegiance. The first model reflects an outsider’s view

of a culturally foreign, amusing, but unrealistic “other” to an audience who

tend to gaze or stare but not touch, as if they were in a museum; the second

opts for more engagement and is freed from border thinking, ending up as

a form of activism from within. Latuff expresses this form of activism best

in response to an interviewer’s question about his message to the Egyptian

people: “I wish to tell Egyptians that my art is at their service, in order to

promote their struggle and boost their morale. My art is their art.”39

Inasmuch as the two models analyzed above say something about the

(Egyptian) cultural “other” they depict, they say much more about America

itself. And it is hard to think of them in separation from such notions of

America as a non-monolithic, transnational community, a community

“troubled . . . with a more contested actuality than is usually ascribed to it,”

as Edward Said puts it.40 Commenting on this transnationalism, Rowe, in

turn, proposes a more inclusive academic intervention when he writes:

Paul Gilroy . . . fundamentally challenged “area studies”

definitions of Caribbean, African American, and black British

communities, directing us both literally and figuratively to

the “Atlantic world” in which transnational flows of people,

goods, and cultures moved incessantly and diversely . . . David

Lloyd and Peter D. O’Neill . . . [show] how the Green (Irish),

Red (Communist), and still other “Atlantics” have followed

and broadened what we today understand as this oceanic

complexity beyond the presumed stabilities of geopolitical

states. We need similarly flexible, transnational conceptions in

the new American Studies that will work cooperatively with

“critical area studies” of Latin America and the Middle East

to respect the diverse communities we find in these regions and

provide the critical terms for challenging their marginalization,

even exclusion, by more powerful nation states.41

In my view, it is our role as area studies researchers and cultural critics to

follow precisely the path delineated by Rowe above, if cultural dialogue is to

be attained and border thinking overcome. Amen!

Notes1. John Carlos Rowe, “American Orientalism after Said,” Edward Said Memorial Lecture

presented at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, November 1, 2011. In this paper, I cite the unpublished manuscript the author has kindly shared with me and for which I am most grateful. An abridged form of the lecture is also available online: John Carlos Rowe, “American Orientalism after Said,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 3–9 November 2011, <http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1071/cu1.htm>.

2. As delineated in Edward Said, Orientalism (NY: Vintage Books, 1987).

3. Rowe, “American Orientalism after Said,” 3–7.

4. Ibid., 8–14.

5. Clay Bennett, “Egypt,” Times Free Press, 1 February 2011, <http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/feb/01/egypt/>.

6. Marshall Ramsey, “Mubarak,” Marshall Ramsey, 1 February 2011, <http://marshallramsey.com/2011/02/01/cartoon-mubarak/>.

7. Steve Breen, “The Camel’s Nose,” NewsBusters, 31 January 2011, <http://newsbusters.org/camels-nose.html>.

8. Bill Day, “Bill Day’s Cartoon for 2/1/2011,” Cagle Post, 1 February 2011, <http://www.cagle.com/2011/02/bill-days-cartoon-for-212011/>.

9. Henry Payne, [“Untitled”], Henry Payne, 1 February 2011, <http://www.henrypayne.com/index.php/2011/02/6476>.

10. Dana Summers, “Dana Summers Editorial Cartoons,” Go Comics, 1 February 2011, <http://www.gocomics.com/danasummers/2011/02/01>.

11. See, for instance, Walid El Hamamsy, “BB = BlackBerry or Big Brother: Digital Media and the Egyptian Revolution,” Journal of Postcolonial Writing 47 (4) (2011): 454–466.

12. Matt Davies, “Talk Like an Egyptian,” OUCH, 28 January 2011, <http://blog.ctnews.com/davies/2011/01/28/talk-like-an-egyptian/>.

13. The cartoon’s title itself alludes intertextually to the controversial pop song released by the UK all-girl band, The Bangles, in 1986, which was unofficially banned in Egyptian media for what was seen by some as its insensitive lyrics and attitude to Egyptians. The Bangles, “Walk Like an Egyptian,” YouTube, uploaded 4March 2008, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWP-AsG5DRk>.

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14. Chris Britt, “Egypt’s Ancient Desire for Freedom,” Carthage Press, 31 January 2011, <http://www.carthagepress.com/opinions/cartoons/x115117723/Britt-cartoon-Egypts-ancient-desire-for-freedom?photo=0>.

15. It is worth remarking that the majority of samples analyzed above were published on 1 February 2011, as the dates cited here will reveal. It is significant to note that though demonstrations started on January 25 and steadily intensified in response to the regime’s use of violence as of January 28, it was only on February 1 that American cartoonists started paying any noticeable attention to the political situation in Egypt. In my view, the significance of that date lies in the fact that it coincided with President Barack Obama’s speech on the “Egypt Crisis,” marked by a clear shift in American Administration’s discourse and allegiance toward the people rather than the regime in Egypt. To my mind, these cartoons came as a response to Obama’s speech with its focus on “peaceful transition,” which gave the cartoonists the green light to “cover” the Egyptian revolution rather than as a response to the political situation itself. The speech’s anti-Mubarak tone also explains the various representations of Mubarak as a despot walking toward his end. See Barack Obama, “President Obama Egypt Crisis (1 February 2011),” YouTube, 1 February 2011, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-nnAmdgkRE>.

16. The extent of the spread of such Orientalist approaches to the Egyptian revolution can be gleaned from any quick online search related to cartoon representations of this historical event. For a reservoir of such faulty and culturally insensitive representations, the interested reader can see, for instance, “31 More Egypt Revolution Cartoons,” The Social Poets, 3 February 2011, <http://thesocialpoets.blogspot.com/2011/02/31-more-egypt-revolution-cartoons.html>.

17. Rob Rogers, “Ancient Egypt,” AAEC: The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, 2 February 2011, <http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/95437/>.

18. Carlos Latuff, “We are all Khaled Said,” Egypt Independent, 24 January 2011, <http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/304694>.

19. Carlos Latuff, “Police Day – Khaled Said – Habib El Adly,” 25 January 22011, <http://amr-ezeldeen.blogspot.com/2011/01/police-day-demonstrations-25th-jan-2011.html>.

20. Carlos Latuff, “SCAF’s Low Blow to Hazem Abdel Azim,” Twitpic, 21 July 2011, <http://twitpic.com/5th7it>.

21. I am grateful to Carlos Latuff for providing high-resolution versions of his cartoons and for his kind permission to reprint them in this paper. Carlos Latuff, e-mail message to author, 21 August 2011.

22. Carlos Latuff, “Police Day – Mubarak,” 25 January 2011, <http://amr-ezeldeen.blogspot.com/2011/01/police-day-demonstrations-25th-jan-2011.html>.

23. Carlos Latuff, “Egyptian Activist Asmaa Mahfouz Charged by SCAF with Inciting Violence through Social Sites,” Twitpic, 14 August 2011, <http://twitpic.com/664oz7>.

24. Carlos Latuff, “On Behalf of Jan. 25 Revolution Martyrs,” Wikimedia Commons, 19 July 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:On_behalf_of_Jan25_revolution_martyrs.gif>.

25. Carlos Latuff, “Egypt’s Vodafone Role in Cell Phone & Internet Blackout,” Wikimedia Commons, 5 August 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egypt’s_Vodafone_role_in_cell_phone_%26_Internet_blackout.gif>.

26. Carlos Latuff, “February 11 Victory – End of Mubarak Era 3,” Wikimedia Commons, 12 February 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Feb11_VICTORY_End_of_Mubarak_Era_3.gif>.

27. Carlos Latuff, “Back to Tahrir July 8, 2011,” Wikimedia Commons, 7 July 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Back_to_Tahrir_July8_2011.gif>.

28. Carlos Latuff, “General El Fangari Threatens Protesters in Egypt 4,” Wikimedia Commons, 15 July 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_el_Fangari_threatens_protesters_in_Egypt_4.gif>.

29. Carlos Latuff, “Coward Assault Against Tahrir Protesters 3,” Wikimedia Commons, 2 August 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coward_assault_against_Tahrir_protesters_3.gif>.

30. Carlos Latuff, “SCAF Can Take Ahmed Harara’s Eyes but They’ll NEVER take his SPIRIT,” Twitpic, 29, November 2011, <http://twitpic.com/7hpmgf>.

31. Carlos Latuff, “Gen. Abdel [Moneim] Kato Suggests to Throw Protesters in Hitler’s Ovens,” Twitpic, 19 December 2011, <http://twitpic.com/7vhttc>.

32. Carlos Latuff, “Mubarak Is Now Playing the VICTIM!,” Wikimedia Commons, 3 August 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mubarak_is_now_playing_the_VICTIM!.gif>.

33. Carlos Latuff, “Egyptian Soldier, DO NOT Attack Your Own People!” Wikimedia Commons, 6 August 2011, <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Egyptian_soldier,_DO_NOT_attack_your_own_people!.gif>.

34. It must be noted here that, in addition to the use of Arabic as a means of addressing his audience, Latuff’s choice of vernacular Egyptian Arabic further highlights his allegiance to his Egyptian audience in particular and his choice to side with the revolutionists by “talking” their language, so to speak.

35. Carlos Latuff, “No Military Trials for Civilians,” Never Say Never, 28 June 2011, <http://bendandneverbreak.blogspot.com/2011/06/no-military-trials-for-civilians-vol2.html>.

36. Mohamed Gaber and Carlos Latuff, “Support the Revolution in Egypt,” MR ZINE, 3 February 2011, <http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/gl030211.html>.

37. Carlos Latuff’s popularity among Egyptians is indeed unprecedented and can be glimpsed from such celebratory websites as the Facebook page entitled “Give the Egyptian Nationality to Carlos Latuff,” <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Give-the-Egyptian-nationality-to-Carlos-latuff/257522124264946>, a page that includes a biographical summary on Latuff, praise for his work and support of the revolution, and a reservoir of his cartoons documenting its various stages to date, which the interested reader may wish to consult.

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38. Latuff’s choice of Arabic as a medium of communication can be seen as a conscious decision when one puts it in its proper context: the artist’s linguistic and biographical background. Contrary to many people’s belief that Latuff’s interest in Egypt stems from his Arab origins – a belief instigated primarily by his Arab last name, – Latuff himself contradicts this fact, writing in an interview with Ahram Online: “My grandfather was Lebanese, but my interest in Middle East has nothing to do with that. I believe in solidarity with people, worldwide. Do not believe in everything you read on Wikipedia as my entry, for example, is always vandalized by Zionists.” He goes on to explain that his interest in Middle East politics started with a visit to Palestine (the West Bank) in 1999 and that he has in fact never visited Egypt, speaks no Arabic, and depends on friends and activists on Twitter for translation and information. That Latuff chooses to caption his cartoons in Arabic despite the linguistic barrier, his conscious efforts to keep au courant with events in Egypt and seek like-minded activists to help him do so, his adamant insistence on addressing an Egyptian/Arab audience even at the expense of estranging his most immediate and obvious Portuguese-speaking Brazilian audience, few of whom would readily understand Arabic, are all factors that highlight Latuff’s informed choice to support the Egyptian revolution and demonstrate his loyalty to its cause. For more on the artist’s background, see Ali Metwaly, “Carlos Latuff Gives a Voice to the Oppressed with His Art [Interview],” Ahram Online, 4 August 2011, <http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/25/18092/Arts--Culture/Visual-Art/Carlos-Latuff-gives-a-voice-to-the-oppressed-with-.aspx>.

39. Ali Metwaly, “Carlos Latuff Gives a Voice to the Oppressed with His Art.”

40. Edward Said, “The Other America,” Al-Ahram Weekly, 20–26 March 2003, <http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/630/focus.htm>.

41. John Carlos Rowe, “Areas of Concern: Area Studies and the New American Studies,” Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics 31: 29 (2011).

Alex LubinEditor





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