Title Unknown past : Layla Murad, the Jewish-Muslim star of Egypt / Hanan Hammad

Published Redwood City : Stanford University Press, 2022

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Description 1 online resource (1 volume) Contents Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION -- INTRODUCTION: WHY LAYLA MURAD? -- CHAPTER 1 THE SCHOOL GIRL Making Layla Murad -- CHAPTER 2 THE COUNTRY GIRL Branding Layla Murad -- CHAPTER 3 ADAM AND EVE Interfaith Family, Fame, and Gossip -- CHAPTER 4 THE BLOW OF FATE The Politics of Boycotting Israel -- CHAPTER 5 THE UNKNOWN LOVER Layla Murad and the Free Officer -- CHAPTER 6 THE STARLING OF THE VALLEY Remembering Layla Murad -- CONCLUSION: CAN AN EGYPTIAN BE A SINGLE MOTHER AND A JEW? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index Summary A biography of the "Cinderella" of Egyptian cinema--the veneration and rumors that surrounded an unparalleled career, and the gendered questions that unsettled Egyptian society. Layla Murad (1918-1995) was once the highest-paid star in Egypt, and her movies were among the top-grossing in the box office. She starred in 28 films, nearly all now classics in Arab musical cinema. In 1955 she was forced to stop acting--and struggled for decades for a comeback. Today, even decades after her death, public interest in her life continues, and new generations of Egyptians still love her work. Unknown Past recounts Murad's extraordinary life--and the rapid political and sociocultural changes she witnessed. Hanan Hammad writes a story centered on Layla Murad's persona and legacy, and broadly framed around a gendered history of twentieth-century Egypt. Murad was a Jew who converted to Islam in the shadow of the first Arab-Israeli war. Her career blossomed under the Egyptian monarchy and later gave a singing voice to the Free Officers and the 1952 Revolution. The definitive end of her cinematic career came under Nasser on the eve of the 1956 Suez War. Egyptians have long told their national story through interpretations of Murad's life, intertwining the individual and Egyptian state and society to better understand Egyptian identity. As Unknown Past recounts, there's no life better than Murad's to reflect the tumultuous changes experienced over the dramatic decades of the mid-twentieth century Notes Print version record Subject Murād, Laylá, 1918-1995 SUBJECT Murād, Laylá, 1918-1995 fast Subject Motion picture actors and actresses -- Egypt -- Biography Women singers -- Egypt -- Biography Singers -- Egypt -- Biography HISTORY / Middle East / Egypt (see also Ancient / Egypt). Motion picture actors and actresses Singers Women singers Egypt Genre/Form Biographies Biographies. Biographies. Form Electronic book ISBN 9781503629783 1503629783

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