Theaters of citizenship : aesthetics and politics of avant garde performance in Egypt

Theaters of Citizenship investigates independent Egyptian performance practices from 2004 to 2014 to demonstrate how young dramatists staged new narratives of citizenship outside of state institutions, exploring rights claims and enacting generational identity. Using historiography, ethnography, and performance analysis, the book traces this avant-garde from the theater networks of the late Hosni Mubarak era to productions following the Egyptian revolution of 2011. In 2004, independent cultural institutions were sites for more democratic forms of youth organization and cultural participation than were Egyptian state theaters. Sonali Pahwa looks at identity formation within this infrastructure for new cultural production: festivals, independent troupes, workshops, and manifesto movements. Bringing institutional changes in dialogue with new performance styles on stages and streets, Pahwa conceptualizes performance culture as a school of citizenship. Independent theater incubated hope in times of despair and pointed to different futures for the nation’s youth than those seen in television and newspapers. Young dramatists countered their generation’s marginalization in the neoliberal economy, media, and political institutions as they performed alternative visions for the nation. An important contribution to the fields of anthropology and performance studies, Pahwa’s analysis will also interest students of sociology and Egyptian history. Theaters of Citizenship investigates independent Egyptian performance practices from 2004 to 2014 to demonstrate how young dramatists staged new narratives of citizenship outside of state institutions, exploring rights claims and enacting generational identity. Using historiography, ethnography, and performance analysis, the book traces this avant-garde from the theater networks of the late Hosni Mubarak era to productions following the Egyptian revolution of 2011.0In 2004, independent cultural institutions were sites for more democratic forms of youth organization and cultural participation than were Egyptian state theaters. Sonali Pahwa looks at identity formation within this infrastructure for new cultural production: festivals, independent troupes, workshops, and manifesto movements. Bringing institutional changes in dialogue with new performance styles on stages and streets, Pahwa conceptualizes performance culture as a school of citizenship. Independent theater incubated hope in times of despair and pointed to different futures for the nation's youth than those seen in television and newspapers. Young dramatists countered their generation's marginalization in the neoliberal economy, media, and political institutions as they performed alternative visions for the nation. An important contribution to the fields of anthropology and performance studies, Pahwa's analysis will also interest students of sociology and Egyptian history Theaters of Citizenship investigates the Egyptian movement for free theater, arguing that it evolved from an avant-gardist movement to an undercommons of revolutionary cultural practice. Using historiography, ethnography, and performance analysis, the book tells a story of this avant-garde from 2004-2014, analyzing its staging of rights claims, generational identity politics, and post-revolution citizenship. Using Moten and Harney's theory of the undercommons, a space-time for politicized cultural practice, the book extends avant-gardist theater theory to consider the revolutionary potential of performance within and outside theater spaces. Pahwa considers the performer's bodily repertoire as a medium of cultural and political citizenship, drawing on Diana Taylor's concept of repertoire, and expanding it to account for how performance mediates futurist culture and revolutionary practice "Theaters of Citizenship investigates the Egyptian movement for free theater, as it evolved from an avant-gardist movement to self-help culture and finally, a frame for street theater. Using historiography, ethnography, and performance analysis, the book follows this avant-garde from 2004-2014, analyzing its staging of rights claims, generational identity, and postrevolution citizenship. The book extends avant-gardist theater theory to consider the politics of performance across urban spaces. It approaches live performance as a means of both cultural and political representation and a theater of citizenship across socially critical, neoliberal, and revolutionary repertoires"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter Copyright Contents Acknowledgments 1. Theaters of Citizenship: Youth, Performance, and Identity in the Late Mubarak Era 2. After the Festival: The Intertwined Rise of Cultural and Political Avant-Gardes 3. Live from Cairo: Youth in the Time of New Media 4. Making Women Matter in Avant-GardeTheater 5. Instrumentalizing Performance in Self-Help Citizenship 6. Remembering Utopia: Social Theater and Arts Festivals after 2011 Conclusion: Revolutionizing Cultural Citizenship Notes Bibliography Index