We bring you the live recording of a panel we moderated at the media majlis museum in Doha this month. We delve into the history of memes in the Arab world with anthropologist Laure Assaf and Qatari comedian Hamad Al-Amari, where they explore their cultural significance, evolution, and impact on society. They address how memes merge cultural consumption and production, challenging orientalist tropes about Arab societies, and serving as a powerful tool for humor, satire, and political expression. Our panelists share insights into the mechanisms of virality, the role of different social media platforms, and the unique characteristics of Arab meme culture, from the Gamboo3a phenomenon to personal experiences of becoming a meme.

0:00 What Are Memes and What Do They Do?

3:37 The Anthropological Lens: Memes as Cultural Objects

4:56 Defining Memes

6:17 From Pedagogy to Political Satire: An Egyptian Meme Example

7:38 The Power of Memes in Consumption, Production, and Humor

9:49 Collective Identity & Understanding the Audience

10:49 Pop Culture Mashups

12:40 Case Study: the Gamboo3a 

16:29 The Evolution of the Gamboo3a Meme

21:18 Gamboo3a's Legacy in Pop Culture and Its Regional Unity

23:09 Hamad's Journey: Becoming a Meme (Twice!)

25:09 The Origins of Memes and Political Humor in the Arab World

27:01 The Algorithm and Content Virality

28:55 Regional Platform Preferences and Political Content

31:23 The Shelf Life of Arab Memes and Archiving Pop Culture

37:34 Social Backlash and Legislation: The Future of Memes

Hamad Al-Amari is a stand-up comedian, producer and entrepreneur born in Doha and raised in Ireland. He presents the video blog "QTips" on the iloveqatar.net website, which uses short funny videos to explain Qatar.

Connect with Hamad Al-Amari 👉 https://instagram.com/hamadalamari

Laure Assaf is an anthropologist and a specialist of Middle Eastern studies. Her research interests focus on youth, urbanity, and migration in contemporary Emirati society and the broader Gulf region. She is Assistant Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies, Anthropology and Social Research and Public Policy at NYU Abu Dhabi. She was trained in anthropology at Paris Nanterre University and in Arabic at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris. She is working on a book manuscript derived from her PhD thesis, entitled "Arab youths of Abu Dhabi: Status categories, urban sociability and the shaping of subjectivities in the United Arab Emirates (2017)". She is also an Associate Researcher at the French Center for Archeology and Social Sciences (CEFAS) in Kuwait.

Connect with Laure Assaf 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/in/laure-assaf-b1036442

Hosted by Mikey Muhanna

Connect directly with Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://instagram.com/mikey_mu

Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 

https://spoti.fi/47I59ns

FOLLOW & RATE THE MEDIA MAJLIS MUSEUM PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/media-majlis-museum-podcast/id1763784587
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3p87MwQuJWOXG9X3h7NBuU
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1056900096

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl6JKXIPDF5oHzzMEc_veM2n

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