Revolting Revolution: Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and the Crafting of an Ethic of Solidarity Public

Abstract

By posting a nude image of herself, Aliaa Magda Elmahdy began a movement that seeks
to incorporate the nude body into political life in Egypt. While there are countless
differences between the now over forty images on her post, they each play a role in
constituting a form of political action based around the nude subject. "Revolting
Revolution: Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and the Crafting of an Ethic of Solidarity" seeks to
understand how it is this political action occurred, as well as what possible benefits
there are from projects like Elmahdy's. To understand her work, this paper begins by
first investigating the meaning behind revolution. It determines that revolution does not
necessarily bring about change, and instead, often the same power dynamics remain in
place. Despite this, there are moments of revolt that society seeks to expel from politics
by describing them as disgusting or disturbing. These instances are the ones that this
paper will identify as having the capacity to change society. Elmahdy's images serve as
an instance of this sort of revolt. The second half of this discussion focuses on the
particular images on her blog. In particular, it investigates the role of the female lips and
in Elmahdy's political project. With the help of Luce Irigaray, this paper seeks to show
the way that Elmahdy's images function as a type of feminine speech that move away
from the stability focus of status quo politics in Egypt. Instead, they open up space for a
chaotic understanding of citizenship by establishing an ethic of solidarity where the
images are able to unite individuals despite their differences. This process occurs
through a proliferation of differences where each individual begins to see that despite
their inevitable differences, there is no justification to maintain the exclusion others.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1
II. From Revolt to Revolution and Back Again: An Opposition of Disgust ......................... 7

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy as an Egyptian Revolutionary ....................................................................................... 8
Constituting a Revolution ............................................................................................................................................ 11
Redefining Revolt ............................................................................................................................................................. 16
Kristeva and the Abject as a Tool of Resistance ................................................................................................ 21
The Body as Remainder ................................................................................................................................................ 26
Language within the Image ......................................................................................................................................... 29
Mbembe and Abject Politics ....................................................................................................................................... 35
Understanding an Abject Revolt ............................................................................................................................... 46
III. From Silent Image to Speaking Subject: A Route to Solidarity ..................................... 50
Reinterpreting Loss ......................................................................................................................................................... 52
Irigaray and Nudity as Woman's Subjectivity ................................................................................................... 53
Egypt as an Envelope ...................................................................................................................................................... 58
Elmahdy and the Nude Subject ................................................................................................................................. 60
Wittig and Censorship ................................................................................................................................................... 65
Barthes and the Speaking Photograph .................................................................................................................. 70
Image as Politics ............................................................................................................................................................... 76
IV. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 81
Works Cited and Consulted ............................................................................................................ 84

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Philosophy
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Fine Arts Philosophy Language, Rhetoric and Composition
Mot-clé	Luce Irigaray Nude Body Egypt Achille Mbembe Julia Kristeva Judith Butler Feminism Revolt Revolution Photography
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Mitchell, Andrew J, Emory University
Committee Members	McAfee, Noelle C, Emory University Meighoo, Sean , Emory University

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