This sophisticated book presents new theoretical and analytical insights into the momentous events in the Arab world that began in 2011 and, more importantly, into life and politics in the aftermath of these events. Focusing on the qualities of the sensory world, Maria Frederika Malmström explores the dramatic differences after the Egyptian revolution and their implications for society—the lack of sound in the floating landscape of Cairo after the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, the role of material things in the sit-ins of 2013, the military evocation of masculinities (and the destruction of alternative ones), and how people experience pain, rage, disgust, euphoria, and passion in the body. While focused primarily on changes unfolding in Egypt, this study also investigates how materiality and affect provide new possibilities for examining societies in transition. A book of rare honesty and vulnerability, The Streets Are Talking to Me is a brilliant, unconventional, and self-conscious ethnography of the space where affect, material life, violence, political crisis, and masculinities meet one another.

About the Author

Maria Frederika Malmström is Associate Professor in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University. Her first book, The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt, approached gender, sexuality, and the construction of identity in relation to global politics.

Reviews

"The book is written in an engaging style, rich with affect. The book contains fascinating ethnographic anecdotes, felt reflections on events and exchanges by the author, long stretches of elicited testimony from interlocutors, and compelling photographs that highlight different materialities. Thus, it might interest those seeking to explore less formal modes of ethnographic writing and presentation."
— Anthropology Book Forum

“A masterful and original book. Rarely has the sound and smell of fear, hope, and struggle been linked to the public stage of politics in the revolutionary moment about which Maria Frederika Malmström writes.”—Arjun Appadurai, author of The Future as Cultural Fact: Essays on the Global Condition

“In gripping prose that powerfully evokes the sensuousness of street life in Cairo during the dangerous times of the Arab Spring and Sisi’s Egypt, Malmström brilliantly takes the reader on a journey that explores the embodied inner experience of Egyptians in search of social justice and a better life. Going beyond the new materialism, Malmström redefines the anthropology of the senses, giving it a much-needed personal and political dimension. This brave and innovative book, which powerfully demonstrates the sensuous connection between the professional and the personal, has much to teach us about doing anthropology. It will be read, debated, and savored for many years to come.”—Paul Stoller, author of Sensuous Scholarship

“Unique in its approach, Malmström’s book presents a vivid depiction of the affective dimensions of the 2013 takeover by the military in Egypt and its aftermath. It will be an important contribution to the understanding of the contemporary Middle East and to the anthropology of affect and materiality.”—Aymon Kreil, author of Amour et désir en Égypte: Un tabou locace