Arabic Literature on Social Media as a Cultural Materialist Practice

Aboud, Reham Hosni Saleem

doi:10.21608/qarts.2025.389823.2233

Arabic Literature on Social Media as a Cultural Materialist Practice

نوع المستند : المقالة الأصلية

المؤلف

Reham Hosni Saleem Aboud

Lecturer of Literary Criticism Department of English Faculty of Arts - Minia University

10.21608/qarts.2025.389823.2233

المستخلص

This study develops a critical framework for analyzing Arabic literature on social media through the lens of Raymond Williams’s theory of culture, particularly the structure of feeling and cultural materialism. It explores how Arabic literary expression in digital environments—especially on Instagram and mobile applications—reflects and reshapes the socio-political realities of contemporary Arab societies. By tracing a historical continuum from pre-Islamic poetic traditions to modern digital platforms, the study situates Arabic e-literature within broader material and emotional contexts. Two case studies are examined to exemplify how digital technologies foster remix culture and immersive reading. The analysis demonstrates that Arabic literary production on social media functions as a dynamic cultural process that transcends traditional literary analysis by capturing the lived, affective dimensions of its historical moment. By integrating Raymond Williams’s concepts of cultural materialism and structure of feeling, the research offers a dual lens: one that situates digital literature within broader socio-economic and historical contexts, and another that attends to the emotional textures and collective consciousness shaping cultural expression in the digital age. This integrated framework allows for a deeper understanding of how digital platforms mediate the interplay between technological affordances, artistic creativity, and political struggle. It can also inform the analysis of digital cultural production in other regions undergoing political contestation and technological transformation.

الكلمات الرئيسية