Popular songs and counterculture in early twentieth-century Egypt
In the late 1910s and early 1920s, the ‘pop’ songs of famous artist and composer Sayyid Darwish swept through Egypt. Originally composed for the vaudeville music theatre, they soon spilled into the urban streets as well as the countryside. The music held an ambiguous position as both widely popular and anti-establishment, and many songs addressed themes related to anti-imperialism, (economic) colonialism, workers’ conditions and social injustice – all wrapped in light and catchy tunes.
The presented research takes a counter-cultural approach to the Arab Nahḍa – a historical period of cultural and intellectual ‘upswing’ in the region – with a focus on Egypt. It uses popular songs produced in the turbulent years between 1918 and 1923 as an access point to the Nahḍa experience, from a bottom-up perspective. The songs are read as examples of the artists' intention to capture the perspective of ordinary people, who have otherwise been largely ignored (or misrepresented) in history writing, as well as in ‘official’ cultural productions from the same period. In parallel to central thinkers and writers among their contemporaries, the thesis presents Sayyid Darwish and his musical collaborators as the ‘popular intellectuals’ of the Egyptian Nahḍa.
The thesis is a contribution to the burgeoning field of Nahḍa Studies, as well as the interdisciplinary field of emotions’ history.
Ingvild Tomren succesfully defended her thesis on 16 May 2025.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: "Songs, Politics and Revolution in the Arab World"
Evaluation committee
- Professor Martin Stokes, King’s College London (first opponent)
- Associate Professor Elena Chiti, Stockholm University (second opponent)
- Professor Jacob Høigilt, University of Oslo