Duality of Expression: Revolutionary and Linguistic Politics in Ibrahim Al-Husseini's Commedia Al-Ahzaan

Abstract

This article discusses the Egyptian playwright Ibrahim Al-Husseini's recent play Commedia Al-Ahzaan (Comedy of Sorrows). The play is a bold dramatic attempt to capture the giddying experience of the Egyptian revolution of 25th January, 2011. By offering a glimpse into the lives of some of the nameless crowds that amassed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Commedia Al-Ahzaan gives a human face to their leaderless mass protests, which managed to topple Mubarak’s dictatorial regime. The discussion focuses particularly on the play’s dramatization of the moment of revolutionary awakening with its mixed feelings of hope and fear as well as the playwright’s use of diglossic language mixing standard Arabic with Egyptian colloquial Arabic as a means of dramatic expression..