The Representation of Women in Street Songs: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Egyptian Mahraganat

Mai Samir El-Falaky

Abstract


The study investigates the representation of male and female gender identities in Egyptian street songs called Mahraganat. The study discusses the issue with reference to two common songs spreading among young commoners. Since the songs are written by writers who descend from low-standard social group, the analysis exhibits both cultural and societal notions related to how males and females are portrayed in such kind of music. This study attempts to describe how males describe their social group in comparison to the social group to which the women belong. It, thus, constructs the social identity of males and females through the lyrics of this new genre of music.  The findings from such an analysis answer the question about such genre within its social context and the ideologies by which it is dominated reflecting the discursive construction representation of gender and sexual identity.

Keywords: gender, identity construction, genre, ideologies


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