An American woman who becomes a celebrated belly dancer on a Nile cruise boat out of Cairo in Egypt. Now there’s a plot. But it is full of as many twists as a belly vibrating to a dumbak. For the story of Luna in a graphic comic book format, check out her story here.
The latest issue of CyberOrient (Vol. 7, Iss. 2, 2013) is now available online as open access. Here are the contents:
Editorial
Orchestrating Hip-hop Culture Online: Within and Beyond the Middle East
Anders Ackfeldt
Articles
Muslimhiphop.com: Constructing Muslim Hip Hop Identities on the Internet
Inka Rantakallio
Hanouneh style resistance. Becoming hip-hop authentic by balancing
skills and painful lived experiences
Andrea Dankic
“I Am Malcolm X†– Islamic Themes in Hip-hop Video Clips Online
Anders Ackfeldt Continue reading New CyberOrient issue is out
For those fortunate enough to own a MAC computer there is the digital blessing of ITunes. One of the stations listed under “Eclectic” is “The 1920’s Radio Network” which features jazz and vaudeville songs from the 20s through the 40s. Every once in awhile along comes one of those “Oriental” tunes, usually riding stereotypes into the desert on a sand-blasted camel of Araby. One I recently heard manages to offend both Egyptians and obese women (not to mention any serious poet). This is Egyptian Ella, not to be confused with Ella Fitzgerald, who did not debut until four years after this tune was written by Walter Doyle and popularized by Ted Weems and his orchestra.
Egyptian Ella
by Walter Doyle
Ella was a dancing girl who started getting fat
Every day saw three more pounds on Ella
Until one day she found she’d lost her job because of that
And to make it worse, she’d lost her fella
She took a trip to Egypt to forget
And she made such a hit that she’s there yet … Continue reading Tabsir Redux: When the Fat Lady Sings
Perhaps it is boring to be rich, especially for the super rich in a traditional cultural setting. Take the Emirates, for example, with the ultra modern business hub of Dubai and the fabulous new buildings that oil money funds in Abu Dhabi. The Emirates is an unusual oasis in the heartland of the Islamic faith. What makes it unusual is that some 88% of the population here is foreign. So it is not surprising that there should be a murmur of culture clash under the glitz. So when Western pop stars like Snoop Dog, Jay Z, Justin Bieber and Rihanna role into one of the Emirates, you can expect some culture clash talk. Al Jazeera reports that several recent Western superstars have raised eyebrows by their language and behavior. Did the organizers really think that Jay Z would forget how to swear or call women by demeaning terms? This is his bread and butter.
There is a famous biblical saying that Jesus once said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Jesus, theologians tell us, was referring to a narrow gate in Jerusalem that made it very hard for camels to enter, but the sentiment is apt. Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad are respected prophets, but none of them squandered riches or lived in opulence or built huge pyramids. This is not just a problem for Muslims, but for all the major monotheisms which preach about helping the poor. Islam is exemplary in this regard with its principle of sadaqa, but Judaism and Christianity also stress helping the unfortunate. For that matter, even concerned atheists care about their fellow humans. But there is something about wealth (the love of money being the root of all evil) that strains religious behavior. Jay Z and Snoop Dog went to the Emirates, where the money flows, not Yemen, though I suspect young Yemenis have heard them as well in the global pop music market.
My point is not to disparage pop music, nor to defend those who would place a Muslim in a 7th century cultural bubble, but simply to note that defining one’s personal faith is not made easier in a context of vast wealth. Even a cursory reading of the Arabian Nights shows that this is not a modern problem. But if you invite Jay Z, don’t expect a sermon.
For anyone following the driving issue of Saudi women behind the wheel, here is a tune to drive home the problem.
Photograph by Ali Abulohoom
The Yemeni Turbi
by Ali Abulohoom, Yemen Times, August 22, 2013
When he was 8 years old, Fuad Al-Qotari found a piece of wood lying around while playing with some neighborhood kids. He later learned that the object was actually a turbi, an instrument that had nearly disappeared from the Yemeni music scene after the 1920s.
Shortly after discovering his new find, Al-Qotari left Hashed district and moved with his family to the country’s capital, Sana’a, exposing him to more music. He began to follow many of the day’s most accomplished musicians and starting saving money for his own instrument.
His first instrument was the oud, and he was fascinated with its construction. “How [this] instrument was made interested me more than playing [it],†Al-Quotari said.
While he played some tunes of other musicians, his curiosity about the oud’s design was too strong. He put his instrument in water for hours and waited until it fell apart so that he could study each individual part. Continue reading Making Music in Yemen
For those who are still enthralled with parodies of Gangnam style, here is a sample of Yemeni selections over the past year from La Voix du Yémen.
Libyan musicians; Photography by Dr. Virgil Clift in the 1950s