284 Mediated Publics
discourse. The practices of satellite television viewing thus enter into a
serial relationship with practices emanating from other public sites of
expression, and abet the production of a discourse that regards women as
having very little to contribute. It is less a question of [Arabic or French]
language than of the formation of a hegemonic and uniform discourse
in public space. As evidence of the stakes involved, let us take the case of
al-Jazeera.^38 Broadcasting from Qatar since 1996, al-Jazeera has distin-
guished itself through its coverage of political events, which has provoked
the ire of more than one Arab regime.^39 Ever since the second Palestinian
uprising in October, 2000, al-Jazeera’s audience has grown throughout
the Arab world, capturing the loyalty of numerous Algerian male viewers
in particular because of its news reports. Unlike the viewing of Western
networks, al-Jazeera’s viewers often watch in public. For example, in the
summer of 2001 in Algeria, I found myself in a household appliance store.
A television set tuned to a show on al-Jazeera showed an ex-officer of the
Algerian secret service now living in Europe being interviewed. Since the
September 11 attacks against the World Trade Center in New York, the
phenomenon has only been accentuated. Thus it is along political lines
that the divide between men and women is established.
concede that to fully develop this interpretation, the dynamic I
nature of these practices should be highlighted to show the nuanced
structure of domination, so that the analysis could account for the singu-
larity of an emerging voice (albeit a voice that is for the moment merely
murmuring). Have women, especially the cohorts who were educated in
Arabic, again been overlooked? Will women be able to break away from
the “symbolic violence”^40 imposed on them by the brotherhood (it is very
often brothers who impose interdictions) and affirm their own voices?
My response to these questions will entertain two types of argument that
show the complexity of the distinctions invoked to separate men and
women. The first relates to the question of “modernity” that coincides
with viewing practices, and the second to television genres. The two argu-
ments are inseparable.
Several female scholars conducting research in the field have dem-
onstrated that television is an instrument of modernity to which women
easily subscribe.^41 Abu-Lughod thus criticizes the Egyptian novelist N.
Mahfouz who grows nostalgic observing the waning of café gatherings