The Egyptian Labor Corps and the Echoes of WWI

Ottoman History Podcast

E555 | In the aftermath of the First World War, the Egyptian streets rose up against British rule during a period of global anti-imperialism, and the voices of the 1919 revolution have echoed throughout Egyptian history ever since. In this first installment of our four-part series on "The Sound of Revolution in Modern Egypt," we consider how the First World War reshaped political consciousness in Egypt, as our guests Kyle Anderson and Alia Mossallam explore the experiences of the Egyptian Labor Corps and the sonic history of WWI. We examine the adventure, hardship, exile, and abuse Egyptian workers faced serving the British war effort, as well as how the war changed the society they returned to, in the words of one famous song from the period, "safe and sound." In discussing the popular songs of the war period that entered Egyptian national canon, our guests illuminate the ways in which shared songs can be modified and repurposed for new political contexts, drawing attention to the need for reconstructing the layers of context contained within some of history's earliest sound recordings. More at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2023/12/elc.html Kyle Anderson is an Associate Professor at SUNY Old Westbury and the author of The Egyptian Labor Corps: Race, Space, and Place in the First World War. His research has been funded by the Kluge Foundation, the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). Alia Mossallam is a cultural historian and writer, currently an associate fellow of the Forum Transregionale Studien, Berlin. CREDITS Episode No. 555 Release Date: 4 December 2023 Sound production by Chris Gratien Sound Elements (by order of appearance): Naima al-Masriya and Seyyid Darwish - Khod al-Biza; Naima al-Masriya - Ya Aziz Aini; Seyyid Darwish - Zourouni Kulli Sana Mara; El Sharq wel Gharb; Chad Crouch - Charcoal; Sadak Berreshid (Lautarchiv); Seyyid Darwish - Salma Ya Salama; Dalida - Salma Ya Salama Additional thanks to Brittany White