The Reception of Ancient Egypt in the Film "Gharam Fi El-Karnak" Pharaonism and Egyptian Nationalism During Gamal Abdel Nasser's Government
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This paper analyzes the reception of ancient Egypt in the film ġharām fī āl-karnak (Love in Karnak), written and directed by Ali Reda and released in 1967. Being a classic of Egyptian cinema, this musical stars dancers and choreographers from the Reda Troupe, an Egyptian folkloric dance company created in 1959 and nationalized by the government of then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1961. The choreographies of the folkloric dance troupe are set in the context of consolidating the Egyptian Republic as an independent national state. During this moment of building a republican national identity, there are also discourses and political appropriations of the ancient past in dispute, sometimes viewed as glorious, monumental, and a symbol of power and civilization, and other times as synonymous with paganism, despotism, and tyranny. Thus, the film, set in the archaeological site of Karnak, exalts both the monumental temples of Ancient Egypt and the country's natural, cultural, and tourist beauties, valuing regional traditions represented in the choreographies. By analyzing the choreographies performed in the film as well as the scenes that refer to antiquity, this paper is situated in the field of political studies of the past to understand how Pharaonic antiquity is mobilized in this production and its relationship with the nationalist ideologies of the Nasser era.
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