An Earwitness to History: Street Hawkers and Their Calls in Early 20th-Century Egypt. (14th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fahmy, Ziad
• Is Part Of: International journal of Middle East studies. Volume 48:Number 1(2016:Feb.)
• Page Start: 129
• Page End: 134
• Publication Date: 2016-01-14
• Subjects: Middle East -- Periodicals; 915.603305
• DOI: 10.1017/S0020743815001531
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0020-7438

Abstract

Abstract : Historians have recently started listening to the past, contributing to what David Howes has described as a "sensorial revolution in the humanities and social sciences." In the same way that all five senses are relevant to our daily understanding of the world around us, they should be vital to our understanding of historical events. Interpreting how peoples of the past sensorially experienced their world makes possible a richer, more comprehensive grasp of historical events. A sensorially grounded historical narrative is an embodied history that is connected to everyday people and lives. Historians of the Middle East, however, with few exceptions, are still largely producing soundproof, devocalized narratives of the past.