Shereen El Feki: Pop culture in the Arab world

“The 99″ and 4Shbab are just two of many examples of this sort of Islamic cross-cultural hybridization. We’re not talking here about a clash of civilizations. Nor is it some sort of indistinguishable mash. I like to think of it as a mesh of civilizations, in which the strands of different cultures are intertwined.

Now, while 4Shbab and “The 99″ may look new and shiny, there is actually a very long tradition of this. Throughout its history has borrowed and adapted from other civilizations both ancient and modern. After all it’s the Quran which encourages us to do this. “We made you into nations and tribes so that you could learn from one another.” And to my mind, those are pretty wise words, no matter what your creed. Thank you.

Translated into Chinese by Chunlei Chang
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao