Customer Reviews

Pop Culture Arab World!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle (Popular Culture in the Contemporary World)

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Whoa! I am impressed at the breadth and depth of this lucidly written tome. Pop Culture Arab World!-Media, Arts, and Lifestyle by Andrew Hammond offers an brilliant and thorough analysis of the interactions and dynamics that are at the center of events in the Arab world. It explores what people think of the Bush administration's policies, Islam, and the war on terror. Not only that, but it takes a fascinating and insightful look at all aspects of popular culture, from pop music and film to the Arabic language and media, including satellite channels, like Al-Jazeera, which are reshaping the broadcast scene in new and interesting ways. Definitely a must-read for anyone interested in this part of the world.

The book has short bios on prominent TV and movie stars, along with a few writers, in the Arab world. Many of the names will be unfamiliar with American readers. But Hammond appears to have put much effort into his research. Many entries are for Egypt. Not unusual, given its population and its traditional role as the centre of Arab life.

There are also articles on topics like consumerism and theatre. These include summaries of the topics in each major Arab country.

Recent events do intrude of course. For Iraq, the book discusses changes wrought by the American invasion. Somewhat inconclusive, as the situation in Iraq is still very unsettled. While, post 2001, there is mention of the jihadis influence and how various countries are trying to combat this, in the media and the schools and mosques. One aspect parallels the US. The popularity of TV evangelists, who can reach a much wider audience than just those who attend a mosque.

Excellent, thought-provoking piece of journalistic literature. Very fascinating, full of information and analysis and covers a large topic that hasn't been covered like this before. Definitely worth reading.

The title doesn't do this book justice. Yes, it contains witty insights into pop culture in this part of the world, but it also contains serious political analysis, hard-to-come-by interviews with figures from across the region, and real historical perspective---all laid out in tight, highly readable, intelligent prose. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in the region.

This is an excellent encyclopedia of Middle Eastern information. It is presented in a way that anyone 13 and up, Arab or non-Arab, can understand the culture of this very important region.

The book is not a real encyclopedia in the sense that there are numerous articles arranged in alphabetic order. Instead, the information is categorized by topics: television and radio; movies; news coverage; music and Arab pop; theater; popular religion; growing consumerism; sport; and the Arabic language. All the Arab countries are covered throughout the book, although Egypt is probably the country mentioned the most in here, and the thorough index in the back should be able to help you find specific subtopics. Some chapters also have mini-biographies of famous Arabs relevant to the topic so you can become acquainted with them, and a glossary and timeline in the book should further help you become more familiar with Arab history and culture. Plus, if there's anything this book can't teach you about the Arab world, you can find out more using the websites and books listed by the author.

Even though there is great diversity in the Middle East, the book manages to cover elements of popular culture from every single country. Through this book, I learned that:
*divorced women in Lebanon blame actresses and singers' plastic surgeries as one of the causes of the dissolution of their marriages
*Pan-Arab nationalists are lobbying for the dialects of the Arabic language to be more similar, while others in north Africa are pushing for greater use of French or other languages
*Despite Saudi Arabia's strict policy against fashion and makeup, the clothing, jewelry, and makeup are some of the country's most successful industries.
*Falconry is a popular sport in the Gulf region
*...and a lot more!

I can't recommend it enough. The pictures inside are black and white, but that's seriously the only drawback of this book. It is pretty contemporary considering that it was published in 2004.