Culture, Time and Publics in the Arab World ― Media, Public Space and Temporality

In this revealing new study, Tarik Sabry and Joe Khalil preside over an original new exploration of Arab culture. They employ subjects as varied as anthropology, media studies, philosophy, political economy and cultural studies to illuminate the relationship between culture, time and publics in an Arab context, whilst also laying the foundations for a much more nuanced picture of Arab society. The diverse themes and locations explored include communities at borders, in rural and urban locations, Syrian drama audiences, Egyptian, Saudi and Tunisian artists and activists and historical and contemporary Arab intellectuals. This fresh empirical research and interdisciplinary analysis illuminate intricate experiences that transcend local, national and religious boundaries and expose how Arab publics combine the media and technology to create a rich experience that shapes their collective imagination and social structure. Providing a grounded orientation to key debates on time and what can be defined as public in modern Arab cultures, Sabry and Khalil address teachers, students and those concerned about the delicate structures that underpin the upheavals of the modern Arab world.

Tarik Sabry is Reader in media and communication theory at the University of Westminster where he is a member of the Communication and Media Research Institute and the director of the Arab Media Centre. He is author of Cultural Encounters in the Arab World: On Media, the Modern and the Everyday ( I.B.Tauris, 2010), Editor of Arab Cultural Studies: Mapping the Field (I.B. Tauris, 2012) and Co-editor of Arab Subcultures: Reflections on Theory and Practice (I.B.Tauris, 2016).

Joe F. Khalil is an Associate Professor of Communication in Residence at Northwestern University in Qatar. Khalil is a scholar on global media and an expert on Arab youth media. He has been part of both the Arab alternative and mainstream media, first as a pirate radio DJ and then as a TV executive.