The Political Discourse of the Arab Revolution: The Case of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria

Abstract

The present chapter analyses political discourse used by leaders in response to uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria during the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. Mubarak, Qaddafi, Ben Ali, and Assad responded to protest and revolution not only with actions but also with deliberate language choices that reveal complex attitudes towards protestors, nationalism, democracy, and unity and serve to attempt to justify their own presence, actions, and policies during a period of intense turmoil. Focusing on public speeches delivered by the four leaders, this chapter pays particular attention to specific themes and the use of dialectal Arabic in strategic attempts to reach the masses through vernacular language. The resurgence of colloquial spoken Arabic as a means of mobilization and a rival to Modern Standard Arabic (‘MSA’) beyond the descriptive language of slogans and communiqués has overpowered the political arena, even though the political discourse of some Arab leaders, particularly Mubarak, epitomises the veneration and fear that MSA held and continues to hold. One striking feature in the political discourse of the revolution is the unprecedented use of colloquial Arabic by certain leaders and the adherence to MSA in the case of other leaders.

Conclusion

MSA written Arabic is inaccessible to the illiterate although most of the educated class can read it and feel they can produce it competently. Yet, colloquial/spoken Arabic remains the everyday language of both educated and illiterate people alike. Writing in colloquial Arabic is a step towards ‘the democratization of the language’ in the case of Arabic. It is the democratization of written Arabic which enjoys a revered status for historical and religious reasons that cannot be altered. The Arab uprisings facilitated a convergence between written and spoken Arabic, representing a shift in political discourse manifested in the speeches of political leaders in ‘Arab Spring’ nations. The new discourse is characterised by a change of register and the introduction of democratic ideas. It also ended an era of language subordination by authoritarian rulers.

Further, the online and social media aspect of the uprisings created a new forum for written Arabic. In fact, one can stipulate the start of a new era in the use of Arabic, namely one of democratization in which Arabic is no longer solely reserved for literary and media writers. One needs to bear in mind that colloquial Arabic has neither threatened nor replaced MSA throughout the last wave of revolutions. On the contrary, the Arab uprisings facilitated a convergence between written and spoken Arabic through social networks and blogs. Furthermore, new terminology came to the surface which was created to serve the purposes of the Arab Revolution , for instance: ‘jum’a al ghaDab’ for ‘Friday of wrath’, ‘jumu’at al raheel’ for ‘Friday of departure’, ‘ahad al shuhadaa’ ’ for ‘Sunday of martyrs’, ‘al balTaguiyya’ for ‘thugs’, and ‘mawqi’at al jamel’ for ‘battle of the camels’. In fact, the ‘Revolution Terminology’ Facebook group which is a closed group created in Egypt introduced the ‘Revolution Terminology’ in an attempt to facilitate the understanding of the terminology used. One can safely infer that the Arab Spring has marked a new turn in the development of the Arabic language by defining new words to be used in the context of the Arab Spring in order to express new themes. This primarily features the democratization of the language, whereby writing is not only limited to the use of MSA but rather extends to spoken Arabic, seen essentially in Internet forums, social media, and the slogans of the demonstrators. The Arab Spring emancipated the language of political statements, with essentially the democratization of the Arabic language, thus marking a watershed in the development of the Arabic language .

Revolution terminology and democratization of the language are certainly a major feature that characterised the development of MSA throughout the Arab Spring. Equally, the culture of fear and veneration towards Arab leaders was revolutionised with the Arab Spring, as people went on to the streets to put an end to years of dictatorial ruling. Likewise, the use of MSA was no longer required for official statements and for written forums. People wrote in the dialect they spoke. In other words, spoken Arabic was to be used in its written form. This reflects a culture of democracy reflected in the language. In other words, language is influenced by culture, and the culture of democracy, freedom, and justice created by the people in MENA has affected the structure and the terminology (language) of the leaders’ speeches directly or indirectly. The Arabic language has witnessed a breakthrough that allowed for spoken Arabic to be written and used for written communication.