Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Star Academy as Arab Political Satire

2008; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 40; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0020743808080938

1471-6380

Marwan M. Kraidy,

Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies

The previous excerpt is taken from a column by Syrian journalist Hakam al-Baba, published in the London-based Pan-Arab newspaper al-Quds al-ʿArabi . Al-Baba, a middle-aged Syrian journalist known for his biting sarcasm, has written some of the most perceptive critiques of Syrian and Arab media, including a famous 2005 article in the Syrian daily Tishreen , in which he relates his experience of harassment by the mukhābarāt . In the excerpted column, al-Baba uses the raging Pan-Arab controversies over reality TV for a critique of Arab political dependence on the United States.