Abstract
The author highlights how the image of the heroic military figure changed in the popular imagination during the Mubarak years as a result of the increasing and pervasive involvement of the army in most economic sectors of the nation. The army was building an economic ‘empire’ of its own, which did not benefit the large majority of the population in any significant way. The author analyses a number of popular films which depicted this change, particularly in representing a ‘deluded’ October War hero. Yet two remarkably popular TV drama series, namely Tears in Shameless Eyes (1980) and Raafat al-Haggan (produced in three parts in 1989, 1990 and 1991), both produced by state TV, used much nationalist discourse to inflate the image of the Intelligence Officer and the patriotic ordinary citizens who were able to defeat the Israeli Mossad through successful ‘Intelligence wars’. Mostafa then addresses Mubarak’s fall from grace with the break out of the 25 January 2011 Revolution, and the perception of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in popular culture. The author concludes by highlighting the ‘legitimisation’ of the counter-revolutionary discourse which has dominated the cultural field since Sisi came to power in June 2014.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Egyptian Military in Popular Culture |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan London |
| Pages | 93–131 |
| Number of pages | 39 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-137-59372-6 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-137-59371-9 |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |