View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives Love and Responsibility: An ethnography of Masculinities and Marriage in Urban Egypt By Mari Norbakk Thesis submitted in partial completion of Master’s degree in Social Anthropology University of Bergen, Department of Anthropology June 2014 ii Acknowledgements I would like to say a few thanks, as a work such as this is, just as the phenomenon outlined in it, never a bounded entity. This thesis would never have happened if it were not for all my wonderful friends in Cairo, unfortunately unmentionable by name. Thank you all for letting me into your lives and sharing them with me in such a beautiful way. I will never forget you and you will forever have a big place in my heart. Shukran. I owe great thanks to the University of Bergen for my education, and more specifically, to the Meltzer-fund which gave me a grant in order to conduct fieldwork. As for grants, my father is also worth mentioning here, as he has made sure to keep me well fed. Thank you to my mother for her Sunday phone calls. I also owe great thanks to the Christian Michelsen’s Institute (CMI) in Bergen. They have provided me with a beautiful place in which to work. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to spend a year in a professional research environment. I am especially grateful to the two research-clusters I have been a part of, the Gender Politics-cluster as well as the Cultures and Politics of Faith-cluster. To Are Knudsen and Kari Telle at CMI, thank you for keeping a watchful eye over a nervous student. Thank you, Guri Stegali, for always being there with a hug and a smile. Here I will also thank my fellow CMI-students for the support and fun time. Special thanks go to those who have read my chapters and drafts: Liv Tønnessen, Vibeke Wang, Iselin Stronen, Janne Bøe, Halvard Andreassen Kjærre, Gilda Seddighi, Ingvild Prestegård Fatima Fowsi, Kajsa Amundsen, Ida Neple and Carly Grijalva. Thank you to my study-group through two long years: Erik Sandvik, Nora Haukali and Osmund Grøholt. You guys kept me sane. Caroline and Hanna, my dear roommates, thank you for all the brilliant home-cooked breakfasts. To my dear supervisor, Nefissa Naguib: You inspire me. In you I have found a supervisor who in some mystical way manages to keep me always on my toes. Thank you for this, and thank you for pushing me through. Thank you for giving me a lot of opportunities, I hope I have in some small way been able to rise to the occasion. Hopefully I will someday be back in your office for another session. I owe this thesis to my partner, Nicolas. He was my bodyguard, driver, cook, confidante, nurse, comedian and a shoulder to cry on. He was my help in the field and spent three years in Cairo to help me accomplish this. After leaving Cairo he has also provided me with a place in Nottingham in which to sleep, eat and read during a long process of writing up this thesis: Bobby, this is for you. iii iv Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... iii Transcription of Arabic ........................................................................................................ vii 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 2 Setting the Stage ..................................................................................................................... 3 Research question ................................................................................................................... 8 My interlocutors ..................................................................................................................... 9 Theoretical framework ......................................................................................................... 11 Chapter overview ................................................................................................................. 16 2 Method and Background ............................................................................................... 18 Motivations ........................................................................................................................... 18 Anthropological Knowledge ................................................................................................ 19 Ethics ................................................................................................................................ 20 Gender .............................................................................................................................. 21 Epistemological consequences ......................................................................................... 22 Anthropology “at home” .................................................................................................. 23 Ethnographic Moment ...................................................................................................... 24 Cairo, Egypt ......................................................................................................................... 25 Religious Make-up ............................................................................................................... 29 3 Ideals: Providing and Bravery ...................................................................................... 32 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 32 Saleh ..................................................................................................................................... 34 “A small, intimate wedding” ................................................................................................ 36 Revolutionary Narrative, Saleh’s Bravery ........................................................................... 38 The Wallet and the Wife ...................................................................................................... 39 “Come with the brave – Together to the square” ................................................................. 41 v The Unattainable Car ........................................................................................................... 43 Costs and Babies .................................................................................................................. 44 Concluding Remarks and Emergent Masculinities .............................................................. 46 4 Uniqueness: Agentive Capabilities .............................................................................. 48 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 49 The Case of Magdy .............................................................................................................. 51 Magdy’s Space ..................................................................................................................... 53 Magdy’s Audience ............................................................................................................... 55 The Unique Agent ................................................................................................................ 57 Stereotypes ........................................................................................................................... 58 Changing Practices and Emergent Masculinities ................................................................. 59 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 60 5 Love: Conjugal Connectivity ......................................................................................... 62 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 62 Haitham – A Man Looking for Love ................................................................................... 63 The Friendly Lover ............................................................................................................... 65 The Study of Love ................................................................................................................ 68 Bargaining with Patriarchy? ................................................................................................. 71 Notes on Unhappiness .......................................................................................................... 72 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 73 6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 76 List of References ................................................................................................................... 80 vi Transcription of Arabic A short note on transcription of Arabic names or words: As Arabic does not have an official transcription system I have to include this note. I have not chosen to apply a system of transcription such as the system used by the International Journal of Middle East Studies. I have merely written out the Arabic names and/or words based on how they sound, without