Political Correctness and Cancel Culture in Arabic Linguistic and Cultural Practices: Preliminary Reflections
Abstract
This paper examines the nuances of political correctness in Arabic contexts, highlighting its emergence and intersection with Islamic ethical principles. It challenges claims of early Arab politically correct sensibilities, emphasizing the need for comprehensive investigation beyond ideological and religious frameworks. Through a linguistic and descriptive analysis, the paper sheds light also on cancel culture trends across Arab contexts.
Riferimenti bibliografici
Abd al-Azim, Maha (2014), «Al-bāḥiṯah al-tūnisiyyah Maha Abd al-Hamid: “al-Aswad
yusammà ʿabdan fī awwal balad alġà al-riqq”», in France 24, from https://tinyurl.com/4spjvrxs.
Abd al-Hamid, Maha (2019), «Kayfa tuṭraḥ masʾalat al-ʿunṣuriyyah fī-l-muǧtamaʿāt al-abawiyyah wa-kayfa yatimmu al-taṣaddī lahā», in MCC Monte Carlo International, from https://bit.ly/2J2FS0P.
Abo Bakr, Mahmoud (2020), Facebook Platform, from https://tinyurl.com/23n465rz.
Aladly, Ahmed (2024), Facebook Platform, from https://tinyurl.com/mumnspup.
Al-Badrani, Abu al-Faysal (n.d.), Al-muslim wa ḥuqūq al-ʾāḫarīn, from https://tinyurl.com/33w2p4d5.
Al-Kayyal, Muhammad Sami (2021), «Siğālāt mumillah: Hal yumkin intiqād al-ṣawāb al-siyāsī fī-l-siyāq al-ʿarabī?», in Al Quds al Arabi, from https://tinyurl.com/ys5ua2tb.
Al-Khamri, Hana (2018), «The outrageous racism that ‘graced’ Arab TV screens in Ramadan», in Al Jazeera, from https://tinyurl.com/2p9mw3ab.
Almaany Online Dictionary (2024), from https://tinyurl.com/5bxk2fu8.
Al-Maʿlul, Mahmud (2016), «Al-Sulūk al-diblūmāsī wa-l-luġah al-ʿarabiyyah» in Ean Libya, from https://tinyurl.com/49h9fr4x.
Al-Nakib, Mai (2023), «Signs of the Times: Rising Conservatism in Kuwait», in The Markaz, from https://tinyurl.com/u322a38f.
Al-Rashid, Dana (2022), «Șawābiyyah», in Aljarida, from https://tinyurl.com/mya8n99r
Amnesty (2023), «Tunisia: President’s racist speech incites a wave of violence against Black Africans», from https://tinyurl.com/yc7hyax2.
Australian Human Rights Commission (2011), Casual Racism, from https://tinyurl.com/ycxtn92z.
Basch-Harod, Heidi (2019), «#MeToo and the History of “Hashtag Feminism” in the MENA Region», in Strategic Section. Culture & Society, IE. Med. Mediterranean Yearbook, pp. 306-310.
bell, hooks (1981), Ain’t I A Woman, Black Women and Feminism, South End Press, Boston.
Black, Jack (2021), Race, Racism and Political Correctness in Comedy: A Psychoanalytic Exploration, Routledge, London.
Butler, Judith (2021), Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative, New edition, Routledge, London.
D’Amico, Marsilia (2023), Parole che separano. Linguaggio, Costituzione, Diritti, Raffaello Cortina, Milano.
Di Piazza, Salvatore (2022), Risus abundant? Al confine tra libertà di espressione e violenza verbale, in Di Piazza, Salvatore; Spena, Alessandro, a cura di, La libertà di espressione tra linguaggio, diritto e filosofia, Quodlibet, Macerata, pp. 87-98.
Di Placido, Dani (2023), «Netflix’s ‘Queen Cleopatra’ Controversy, Explained», in Forbes, from https://tinyurl.com/4y7sy46e.
Dzenis, Sandra; Faria, Filipe Nobre (2020), «Political Correctness: The Twofold Protection of Liberalism», in Philosophia, n. 48, pp. 95-114.
Egyptian Streets (2022), «Egyptians Create Viral Hashtag Against Kevin Hart’s Cairo Performance», from https://tinyurl.com/4jnz5ckn).
Elobeid, Olla (2021), X Platform, from https://tinyurl.com/yeymtxdm.
Elsakaan, Nesma (2024), «Non voglio che tu scriva di me»: le donne nere si raccontano, in Sciortino, Maria Grazia; Sicari, Daniele, a cura di, Delizia doni a voi il tempo che passa. Studi in onore di Antonino Pellitteri, l’Oriente Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Roma, pp. 121-150.
Elsakaan, Nesma (forthcoming), Șawābiyyah and Wūkiyyah: Tracking Political Correctness and Wokeism in Arabic Language and Muslim-Majority Arab Contexts, in Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten, ed., Tracking Global Wokeism, Brill, Leiden.
El-Sheikh, Sarah (2020), «Salmonella: More baseless misogyny or important social commentary?», in Daily News, from https://tinyurl.com/msk5fu3v.
ET bi-l-ʿarabī (2023), «Awwal taḥrruk barlamānī ḍiḍḍ film Cleopatra ʿalà Netflix», from https://tinyurl.com/2jkk7wkd).
Faloppa, Federico (2022), Breve storia di una strumentalizzazione. Alle origini dell’espressione “politicamente corretto”, in Bordone, Matteo et al., a cura di, Non si può più dire niente? 14 punti di vista su politicamente corretto e cancel culture, Utet, Milano, pp. 69-88.
Hammouda, Mayyada (2020), «Al-Sawabiyyah al-siyasiyyah – Political Correctness», in Political Encyclopedia, from https://tinyurl.com/yhyh8426.
Idris, Suhayl (1996), al-ʾĀdāb Journal, n. 44, from https://bit.ly/3wE5MwX.
Johansson-Nogués, Elisabeth (2013), «Gendering the Arab Spring? Rights and (in)security of Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan women», in Security Dialogue, n. 44 (5-6), pp. 393- 409.
King, Stephan (2019), «Black Arabs and African migrants: between slavery and racism in North Africa», in Journal of North African Studies, n. 26, pp. 1-43.
Library of Congress (2023), «Tunisia: President Calls for Enforcement of Anti-illegal Migration Laws to Curb Increase of Irregular Migrants», from https://tinyurl.com/3s4tk4j8.
Mahmud, Ali (2019), «Hal ʿalynā ʾan nakūn muṣībīn siyāsiyyīn», in Thmanyah, from https://tinyurl.com/bdd5dpe7.
Manalloka (2023), X Platform, from https://tinyurl.com/bdd3whun.
Moller, Dan (2016), «Dilemmas of Political Correctenss», in Journal of Practical Ethics, vol. 4, issue 1, pp. 1-22.
Naʿim, Muhammad (2021),Tārīḫ al-ʿiṣāmiyyah wa-l-ğarbaʿah, Markaz al-maḥrūsah li-l-našr, Cairo.
Netflix (2023), Queen Cleopatra, from https://tinyurl.com/435tb4bc.
Omar, Ahmad Mokhtar (2008), Muʿğam al-luġah al-ʿarabiyyah al-muʿāṣirah [4 volumes], ʿālam al-kutub, Cairo.
Othman, Majd (2022), «Campaign against homosexuality in Kuwait stirs controversy», in Kuwait Times, from https://tinyurl.com/4a6hxsss.
Piazza, Francesca (2019), La parola e la spada. Violenza e linguaggio attraverso l’Illiade, il Mulino, Bologna.
Piazza, Francesca (2022), Strategie di disarmo. Riflessioni sulla rivendicazione semantica del discorso d’odio, in Di Piazza, Salvatore; Spena, Alessandro, a cura di, La libertà di espressione tra linguaggio, diritto e filosofia, Quodlibet, Macerata, pp. 129-135.
Popa-Wyatt, Michaela (2020), «Reclamation: Taking Back Control of Words», in Grazer Philosophische Studien, 97 (1), pp. 159-176.
Rawasekh (2022), Al-Ġarb wa talwīṯ al-ṭufūla: nihāyat ʿaṣr al-barāʾah, Markaz Rawaseskh, Kuwait.
Rigotti, Eddo; Rocci, Andrea (2006), «Denotation Versus Connotation», in Brown, Keith (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, Elsevier, Amsterdam, [Second Edition], pp. 436-444.
Rmediaproduction (2021), «Salmonella», on YouTube, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUm_jY0bYos.
Saʿid, Yasin Ahmad (2022), «Dina Muhammad Yahya: Badaʾtu ‘Qāhirah’ suḫriyyatan min maqāl ḏukūrī», in Wamaḍāt ṯaqāfiyyah Online Journal, n. 57, pp. 41-66, from https://acesse.dev/fyc4J.
Sal Gal (2017), «Volg 007: Political Correctness fī-ḥubb- andīl», on YouTube, from https://youtu.be/bFHWHjVq7SY?feature=shared.
Salaita, Steven (2007), Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where It Comes from and What It Means for Politics Today, [Arabic translation], Saudi, Obeikan Publishing.
Salih, Fakhri (2002), ʿAyn al-ṭāʾir fīl-mašhad al-ṯaqāfī al-ʿarabī, al-Muʾassasah al-ʿarabiyyah li-l-našr, Amman.
Samir, Bahaʾ (2023), Mīmāfizīqā, e.book, from https://tinyurl.com/yre4r4ez.
Scaglioni, Marta, Becoming the ‘Abid. Lives and Social Origins in Southern Tunisia, Ledizioni Ledi Publishing, Milano.
Sciuto, Cinzia (2022), Il vicolo cieco dell’identità. Identity politics e cancel culture, in Bordone, Matteo et al. (a cura di), Non si può più dire niente? 14 punti di vista su politicamente corretto e cancel culture, Utet, Milano, pp. 163-176.
Spena, Alessandro (2022), La dimensione pubblica del discorso d’odio, in Di Piazza, Salvatore; Spena, Alessandro, a cura di, La libertà di espressione tra linguaggio, diritto e filosofia, Quodlibet, Macerata, pp. 115-127.
Taher, Amira (2021), «Political Correctness», in Rattinha, from https://tinyurl.com/mr3njex.
The New Khalij (2018), «Mumaṯṯil ḫalīğī yaʿtaḏir li-l-sūdāniyyīn wa yaʿtazil al-taqlīd nihāʾiyyan», from https://tinyurl.com/3xyx8nmz.
United Nations, (2024a), Disability Inclusive Language Guidelines, from https://tinyurl.com/tceemkrn.
United Nations, (2024b), Mabādiʾ tawğīhiyyah bi-šaʾn al-ṣiyāġah al-luġawiyyah al-murāʿiyah li-manẓūr al-ʾiʿāqah, from https://tinyurl.com/3cj67aku.
Wadud, Amina (2006), Inside the Gender Jihad: Women's Reform in Islam, Onewrold, Oxford.
World Press (2018), «Al-Mumaṯṯil al-kuwaytī yaʿtaḏir li-l-šaʿb al-sūdānī ʿammā qaddamahu min suḫriyah», from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drWHO95cBcs.
Yusuf, Ali (2024), The Holy Qur’an [English Translation], from https://quranyusufali.com/.
Quest'opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
