writing assignment
jennyswufe
ARB2103-Leisure_Sports1.pptLeisure
Entertainment
Religious Festivities
Fishawy coffee Shop in Cairo
Major drinks: tea, Arab coffee, hibiscus
Nargile, Shishah (Water pipe)
Fruit scented tobacco
Shishah Lounges/Houkah Bars
Buda Cafe in North York, Toronto, now closed
The Trouble with Shisha
a new culture of consumerism: places
Western nightlife is popular in most of the Arab capitals where wealthy young men and women can meet and chat, dance, drink...
In Dubai (UAE), English pubs, Indian clubs and Lebanese bars attract citizens and visitors.
In Amman (Jordan) for example, two waves of immigration have transformed the city, bringing Palestinian and Iraqi money to be invested in nightlife attractions.
B018 Nightclub Beirut
Coffee shops VS Nightclubs
Consumption:
Coffee/tea/juice/shisha VS Alcohol
Entertainment:
Conversation VS Dance
National identity:
Eastern/Arab VS Western/Westernized
Class cleavages:
Popular and Bourgeois VS Elite and Nouveau Riche
Beirut, Lebanon
Alexandria, Egypt
Casablanca, Morocco
Dubai, Arab Emirates
Atlas Mountains, Marrakesh
Popular Entertainment
Movie theaters are the most popular source of entertainment in the Arab World.
Tickets start at 2$, no gender separation, very few restrictions in terms of rating, and one could hope for a love scene (otherwise deleted when the film is broadcasted on TV!), family friendly, popular genres like comedy and melodrama, infatuation with Hollywood popular culture and Egyptian cinema.
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Movie theatre downtown Cairo
Movie Theatre, Lebanon
Abou Dhabi: 3D film theatre
Islamic Festivities
- Holy Ramadan, ninth month of the lunar calendar
- The Two Islamic feasts (Eid)
- The Prophet’s Birthday (Mouled el-Nabi)
- Al-Hussain Martyrdom (Ashura and Arbaeen)
Fanoos Ramadan
( the Ramadan lantern)
Old Jerusalem
Merciful God Tables, Egypt
Small Eid (el Fitr)
3 days, marking the end of the month of Ramadan and the beginning of the month of Shawwal.
Big Eid (al-Adha, Sacrifice)
4 days, 70 days after the Ramadan. Wealthy Muslims sacrifice a sheep for the occasion, in commemoration of the sacrifice made by
Abraham.
Shia Pilgrimage in Karbala holy city of the Shia Muslims (Iraq)
Commemorates the death of Imam al-Hussain on the 10th of Muharam (Ashura) 680 A.D. Pilgrimage starts 40 days after Ashoura. This day is called Arbaeen (40th).
Sunni Muslims celebrate Ashura because it used to be a fasting day at the time of the Prophet.
The Mouled (Prophet’s Birthday)
Most likely introduced by the Fatimid (Shiite) dynasty in Egypt in the 10th century.
It is usually celebrated on the 12th day of the month of Rabei Thani.
Devoted Muslims and Sufi groups gather to read the Koran, praise the Prophet, distribute food and money to the poor. Parades are organized with banners, music and chanting.
Mouled (Prophet’s birthday) in Egypt
The Bride and the Horse
Candies of the Mouled
Christmas in Bethlehem, Palestine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vREQ5pXRV8
Coptic Christmas
The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7th each year, according to the Coptic calendar, and the Armenians celebrate on January 6th.
The Coptic calendar has 3 seasons, 4 months each, and is a continuation of the ancient Egyptian calendar used for agriculture. The feast of Neyrouz (11 September) is the first day of the Coptic year.
Saint-Mark Cathedral, Cairo
Christmas in Dubai
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Lara Deeb and Mona Harb
“Sanctioned Pleasures”, 2007
Beirut, stereotyped as the Paris of the Middle East, is also home for Hizballah and Shii community in the Southern part of the city (the Dahiya, literally the suburb)
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiXoSCtBnVk
The Dahiya district, Beirut
- An Islamic milieu for leisure, an Islamic state of being (the shii hala islamiyya), was facilitated by Hizballah and includes exhibitions, amusement parks, beaches, Internet cafes, libraries, fitness clubs, summer youth camps (some of which celebrates the feats of the party’s militia, the Islamic Resistance).
- The goal: promote a new definition of the relationship between leisure and morality (appropriateness) and allow for a space entre-soi for the young people in the Dahiya.
- Characteristics of the Pious Leisure Milieu
High-end services marked as pious leisure (rule out pop music or listen to it through headphones)
Define what is appropriate and what is not in men-women public behavior (e.g in coffee shops, beaches)
Two sets of debates around beaches and accessibility to women swimmers
Debates about dating and temporary marriage
A new market for pious leisure has contributed to the expansion of the Hizballah constituency and the improvement of the suburb environment
« Outstanding ethnography » 2014
What makes a café morally appropriate? How do people negotiate morality in relation to different places? And under what circumstances might a pious Muslim go to a café that serves alcohol?
Sports in the Arab World
Sport is not a mere leisure activity.
It is :
a marker of identity (national identity, gender differentiation, class promotion)
a confrontational activity involving competition, mediation, commercialisation
a political means to impose identity from above (the Gulf example)
Allan Guttman, From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports, 1978
7 Characteristics of Modern Sports:
Secularism
Equality of chances
Specialization
Rationalization
Bureaucratic Organization
Quantification
Quest for records
Abdullah Baabood, “Sport and Identity in the Gulf”, 2008
“Sport is commonly viewed as a mechanism of national solidarity promoting a sense of identity, unity, stature and esteem.(…)
http://www.rt.com/news/saudi-female-athletes-prostitutes-olympics-494/
Globally, sport has become a cultural bond that links countries across national boundaries…But on the other hand, sport is also a means of identity differentiation and even confrontation between nations, at times instigating aggression, stereotyping and images of inferiority and superiority.” p. 97-98
Ex. Synchronized Swimming from Egypt:
Football in Egypt
The most popular game in Egypt.
The National Football Team (Pharaohs) participated in the World Cup in 1934 and again in 1990.
Won the African Nations
Cup 7 times between
1957 and 2010.
Al-Ahly Sporting Club (founded in 1907) dominates the football games starting from the 1940s.
The Red Devils won 70
championships and were
named African Club of the
Century in 2000.
ULTRAS Ahlawy (2007-present)
The Ultras and the Revolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p2LpV29ZHo
Zamalek Club is the main rival of Al-Ahly, founded in 1911. Changed names several times and was finally called Zamalek in 1952. Second most successful club in Africa. Won the CAF championship 5 times.
Ultras Zamalkawy
in solidarity
Football in Algeria
The Algerian National Team (The Desert Foxes) qualified for the World Cup three times: 1982, 1986 and 2010.
The Gulf Cup of Nations, 1970
Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Yemen and Iraq.
The GCN is not officially recognized by FIFA.
Rally Oman Championship, 1979
Rally of the Pharaohs, Egypt, 2003
Hail Rally, Saudi Arabia, 2018
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhBBrsmxd7E
Street Car Racing, Saudi Arabia
Ski in Dubai
Golf in Egypt
Redefinition and Rebranding
Dubai uses some of the world’s leading sportspersons to promote its sporting credentials.
Federer VS Agassi in Dubai, 2005
Falconry
Bird control is one of the traditional sports in the Gulf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrfSUDTmlkc&NR=1
http://www.onlineadventure.com/videos/Falconry-Dubai2
Camel Racing in the Gulf
United Arab Emirates, Emerging Arab Power
SEVEN EMIRATES
Abu Dhabi
Dubai
Sharjah
Ajman
Um el Quwain
Ras El Khaima
Fujairah
Sulayman Khalaf
“Poetics and Politics of Newly Invented Traditions in the Gulf” 2000.
- Camel racing provides links to the historical past of the UAE;
- Invokes nationalist themes, symbols, metaphors and language;
- Safeguards cultural heritage and helps constructing national identity.
The camel is a “cultural reference”
for the Badu (Bedouins) because:
It supports their nomadic
way of life;
It was used in wars and is
still associated with values
of chivalry and tribal kinship;
It represents wealth and prestige;
It contextualizes the camelier/poet’s
identity within wider desert affairs.
In pre-oil days, camel races were a local community practice, performed in religious holidays, weddings, and occasional visits
of prominent guests.
Camel Racing before and after Oil
Starting from the 1970s, camel racing involved the mobilization of labour, capital, organizational developments, agencies and state institutions.
Camel racing is encouraged by the ruling families and is divided into three types of races:
for the sheikhs;
for the tribes;
for the sons of the tribes
Jockeys and Robots
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