''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' is an

electronic literature Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature encompassing works created exclusively on and for digital devices, such as computers, tablets, and mobile phones. A work of electronic literature can be defined as "a constr ...

work created by poet and artist

Amira Hanafi Amira Hanafi (born 1979) is an American-born poet and artist who has published several works of electronic literature. She holds both American and Egyptian citizenship. '' A Dictionary of the Revolution'', a creative work she completed in 2017, docu ...

. Completed in 2017, the work consists of 125 different terms that describe the language of the 2011 Egyptian uprising. Participants of the work ranged from five different locations in Egypt.

Origins and influences

''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' is Hanafi's response to the 2011 Egyptian uprising and documents the cultural reactions of the uprising. The revolution began on January 25, 2011, and would end on February 11, 2011. Due to the jailing of journalists in Egypt post-uprising, all interviews captured for ''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' were conducted in private.

Publication history

Hanafi was awarded a grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture for the publishing of ''A Dictionary of the Revolution''. The work was commissioned to be digitally published by

Rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

Themes

Participants of ''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' were asked to react to a word on a note card, and to describe their experiences relating to the term. Some terms used in ''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' include "revolution", "January 25", "terrorism", and "onion". The terms in the dictionary vary, but all correlate to someone's experience before, during, or after the 2011 revolution. "KFC", "Nesto Cheese", and "Guy Fawkes Mask" are terms used in ''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' that have more offbeat contexts but also made the cut.

Structure and navigation

The terms in the dictionary are organized around in a circular graph, and are organized in alphabetical order. Inside the circle, the reader is able to see how terms connect to each other. Though structured, ''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' is fluid, so readers don't have to follow a certain path.

Literary significance and critical reception

''A Dictionary of the Revolution'' won Denmark’s Public Library Prize for Electronic Literature in 2019 and the

New Media Writing Prize The New Media Writing Prize is an annual, juried competition in the United Kingdom awarding prizes to works of innovative digital fiction that uses interactivity, participatory elements and/or multimedia and achieves "good storytelling". Works th ...

in 2018.

External links

A Dictionary of the Revolution

Amira Hanafi's website

References

{{reflist Wikipedia Student Program Egyptian revolution of 2011 Egyptian electronic literature works 2010s electronic literature works American electronic literature works