Abstract
Though currently on a significant rise, access to the web has been historically low in the Middle East. This chapter assesses the online presence of Milton in relation to the increases in Internet penetration and English proficiency over the last few years, as well as the events of the Arab Spring. This chapter explores the ways in which these contexts have affected reception of Milton’s biography and of Paradise Lost. Issa considers the social, political, and pedagogical consequences of various factors, including censorship, discussion forums, online availability of PDFs, suggested Google searches, and the role of Wikipedia in English and in Arabic. In light of the Arab Spring, which was aided and often instigated by digital correspondences, the revolution in Internet usage points towards the relevance of Milton’s revolutionary ideas in a society both calling for and avoiding change.
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Notes
- 1.
Many articles—too many to list here—have been written on the subject. For a useful summary, see Henry Farrell, “The Consequences of the Internet for Politics,” Annual Review of Political Science 15 (2012): 35–52. On the rise in social media activism, see Paolo Gerbaudo, Tweets and Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism (London: Pluto Press, 2012). On the additional importance of non-digital media, see Marwan Kraidy and Marina Krikorian, “The Revolutionary Public Sphere: The Case of the Arab Uprisings,” Communication and the Public 2, no. 2 (2017): 111–119.
- 2.
Islam Issa, Milton in the Arab-Muslim World (New York: Routledge, 2016), 61.
- 3.
Lara Saeed, “Internet Penetration Rates in Iraq,” BiteTech (11 October 2016), <http://www.bite.tech/news/internet-penetration-rates-iraq>; “Iraq Internet Users,” Internet Live Stats (2016), <http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/iraq/>; “Yemen Internet Users,” Internet Live Stats, (2016), <http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/yemen/>; “Egypt Internet Users,” Internet Live Stats (2016), <http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/egypt/>. All accessed March 20, 2017.
- 4.
Everette E. Dennis, Justin D. Martin, and Robb Wood. “Media Use in the Middle East, 2016: A Six-Nation Survey” (Northwestern University in Qatar, 2016), <http://mideastmedia.org/survey/2016>, 29. Data from Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and United Arab Emirates.
- 5.
Racha Mourtada and Fadi Salem, Arab Social Media Report 1, no. 2 (Dubai: Dubai School of Government, 2011) <https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSG_Arab_Social_Media_Report_No_2.pdf>, 9.
- 6.
Mourtada and Salem, Arab Social Media Report, 16. The date January 25, 2011, coinciding with National Police Day, was the starting point of the Egyptian uprising with mass protests around the country; the 2011 Revolution is often referred to by this date.
- 7.
Rasha Abdulla, Egypt’s Media in the Midst of Revolution (Washington DC: Carnegie, 2014), <http://carnegieendowment.org/files/egypt_media_revolution.pdf>, 13.
- 8.
Pew Research Center, “Social Networking Popular across Globe,” Pew Global (12 December 2012) <http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/12/12/social-networking-popular-across-globe/>. Accessed 15 March 2017.
- 9.
New Arts Library, “Paradise Lost: A Brief Summary” (1999), <http://www.paradiselost.org/5-sum-short.html>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
- 10.
King Faisal University and University of Dammam Student Forum (2012), <https://vb.ckfu.org/t378082.html>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
- 11.
Al-Maany, “Khanfashāriyy” (2015), <https://www.almaany.com/answers/341963/خنفشاري-كلمة-مامعنى>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
- 12.
King Faisal University and University of Dammam Student Forum (2012), <https://vb.ckfu.org/t378082.html>. Accessed 28 June 2017. I have anonymized the tutor’s name.
- 13.
Issa, Milton, 60.
- 14.
University of Hodeida Forums (2011), <http://bright-center.7olm.org/t182-topic>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
- 15.
Issa, Milton, 60.
- 16.
It is perhaps indicative that in each example from the educational forums, the original poster is female posts and the respondent male. For more on Arab students’ responses to Satan, religious and cultural belief in Satan, and critical and literary responses to Satan, see Issa, Milton, 85–126.
- 17.
Dennis et al., “Media Use,” 29.
- 18.
Education First, English Proficiency Index (Lucerne, 2016), <https://www.ef.com/__/~/media/centralefcom/epi/downloads/full-reports/v6/ef-epi-2016-english.pdf>, 31. The Index is disseminated by the Education World Forum. Accessed 7 January 2017.
- 19.
Education First, English Proficiency Index, 32.
- 20.
Issa, Milton, 49.
- 21.
Christof Galli, “Arab Book Publishing,” in Library and Information Science in the Middle East and North Africa, ed. Amanda B. Click et al. (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016), 1–27 (5).
- 22.
Issa, Milton, 41–42.
- 23.
Issa, Milton, 41–42.
- 24.
Samar Abou-Zeid, The Arab Book Market (Frankfurt: Frankfuter Buchmesse, 2013), <https://www.buchmesse.de/images/fbm/dokumente-ua-pdfs/2014/buchmarkt_arabische_welt_engl_2014_43687.pdf>.
- 25.
Abou-Zeid, The Arab Book Market.
- 26.
Islam Issa, “Fragmentation, Censorship and an Islamic Journal: A History of the Translations of Milton into Arabic,” Milton Quarterly 46, no. 4 (2012): 219–32 (230).
- 27.
Abou-Zeid, The Arab Book Market.
- 28.
Abou-Zeid, The Arab Book Market.
- 29.
Abou-Zeid, The Arab Book Market.
- 30.
Abou-Zeid, The Arab Book Market.
- 31.
Issa, Milton, 216.
- 32.
Ben Garcia, ‘“Paradise Lost” Leads to Bookshop Closure’ Kuwait Times (6 June 2013), < http://news.kuwaittimes.net/paradise-lost-leads-to-bookshop-closure/>. Accessed 22 July 2017.
- 33.
John Lubbock in discussion with the author (13 June 2017).
- 34.
John Lubbock in discussion with the author (13 June 2017).
- 35.
Wikimedia Statistics, “List of Wikipedias,” <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias>. Statistics at 12:00, July 3, 2017 (UTC).
- 36.
The contentious nature of Wikipedia’s editing system, potential bias, and English version prominence is further exemplified in its controversy with Turkey. At the time of writing, an official Turkish law has banned access to all language editions of Wikipedia (from April 2017). The Turkish government objected to Wikipedia’s English-language “Turkey” page, which alleged that the country was aligned to terrorist groups, and which Wikipedia apparently refused to edit.
- 37.
Joseph Lyle, “Architecture and Idolatry in Paradise Lost,” SEL Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900 40, no. 1 (2000): 139–55.
- 38.
English Wikipedia, “Paradise Lost,” <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost>. Accessed 4 July 2017; Arabic Wikipedia, “al-Firdaws al-Mafqūd,” <https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/المفقود_الفردوس>. Accessed 4 July 2017.
- 39.
Issa, Milton, 52–59.
- 40.
Issa, Milton, 58–59.
- 41.
Education First, English Proficiency Index, 31.
- 42.
The first pair are John Milton: Paradise Lost: Book I and Book II, written by O. P. Malaviya of the University of Allahabad, and the second are on Book IV and Book IX, by Raghukul Tilak of Meerut College.
- 43.
Issa, Milton, 152.
- 44.
O. P. Malaviya, John Milton: Paradise Lost: Book I (New Delhi: Aarti Book Centre), vi.
- 45.
Issa, Milton, 51.
- 46.
Malaviya, John Milton, 62.
- 47.
Ahmed Abdel-Hamid, “Wikipedia and Egyptian-ness … Dialect or Identity Crisis” Menassat (11 August 2009), <http://www.menassat.com/?q=ar/news-articles/7058->. Accessed 6 July 2017.
- 48.
Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia, “al-Firdaws al-Mafqūd,” <https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/المفقود_الفردوس>. Accessed 4 July 2017.
- 49.
Ivan Panović, “The Beginnings of Wikipedia Masry,” Al-Logha 8 (2010), 93–127 (100).
- 50.
For example, Of Education (1644) was an eight-page quarto, comprising a single printed sheet, while Tetrachordon and Colasterion (1645) were published together in a bulky pamphlet of 110 quarto pages. The latter, compared with the poetry published that year, indicates how polemical prose and poetry can represent and/or necessitate different media.
- 51.
Sara El-Khalili, “Social Media as a Government Propaganda Tool in Post-Revolutionary Egypt,” First Monday 18, no. 3 (2013).
- 52.
Freedom House, Freedom on the Net: Syria (2017), <https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2016/syria>. Accessed 4 July 2017.
- 53.
Freedom House, Freedom on the Net: Saudi Arabia (2017), <https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2015/saudi-arabia>. Accessed 4 July 2017.
- 54.
Edward Said, “Literature and Literalism,” Al-Ahram Weekly 414 (1999), 28.
- 55.
Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, The Arab World Online 2014: Trends in Internet and Mobile Usage in the Arab Region (Dubai: Governance and Innovation Program, 2014), <http://www.mbrsg.ae/getattachment/ff70c2c5-0fce-405d-b23f-93c198d4ca44/The-Arab-World-Online-2014-Trends-in-Internet-and.aspx>, 2, 13.
Works Cited
Abdel-Hamid, Ahmed. “Wikipedia and Egyptian-ness … Dialect or Identity Crisis.” Menassat (11 August 2009), <http://www.menassat.com/?q=ar/news-articles/7058->. Accessed 6 July 2017.
Abdulla, Rasha. Egypt’s Media in the Midst of Revolution. Washington DC: Carnegie, 2014, <http://carnegieendowment.org/files/egypt_media_revolution.pdf>. Accessed March 2017.
Abou-Zeid, Samar. The Arab Book Market. Frankfurt: Frankfuter Buchmesse, 2013. <https://www.buchmesse.de/images/fbm/dokumente-ua-pdfs/2014/buchmarkt_arabische_welt_engl_2014_43687.pdf>. Accessed March 2017.
Al-Maany. “Khanfashāriyy” (2015). <https://www.almaany.com/answers/341963/مامعنى-كلمة-خنفشاري>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
Dennis, Everette E., Justin D. Martin, and Robb Wood. “Media Use in the Middle East, 2016: A Six-Nation Survey.” Northwestern University in Qatar (2016). <http://mideastmedia.org/survey/2016>.
Education First, English Proficiency Index. Lucerne, 2016. <http://www.theewf.org/uploads/pdf/ef-epi-2016-english.pdf>. Accessed 7 January 2017.
El-Khalili, Sara. “Social Media as a Government Propaganda Tool in Post-Revolutionary Egypt.” First Monday 18, no. 3 (2013).
Farrell, Henry. “The Consequences of the Internet for Politics,” Annual Review of Political Science 15 (2012): 35–52.
Freedom House, Freedom on the Net: Saudi Arabia (2017), <https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2015/saudi-arabia>. Accessed 4 July 2017
Freedom House, Freedom on the Net: Syria (2017), <https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2016/syria>. Accessed 4 July 2017.
Galli, Christof. “Arab Book Publishing.” In Library and Information Science in the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Amanda B. Click et al. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016. 1–27.
Garcia, Ben. “‘Paradise Lost’ Leads to Bookshop Closure.” Kuwait Times, (6 June 2013), < http://news.kuwaittimes.net/paradise-lost-leads-to-bookshop-closure/>. Accessed 22 July 2017.
Gerbaudo, Paolo. Tweets and Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism. London: Pluto Press, 2012.
Internet Live Stats. “Egypt Internet Users” (2016), <http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/egypt/>. Accessed 20 March 2017.
Internet Live Stats. “Iraq Internet Users” (2016), <http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/iraq/>. Accessed 20 March 2017.
Internet Live Stats. “Yemen Internet Users” (2016), <http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/yemen/>. Accessed 20 March 2017.
Issa, Islam. “Fragmentation, Censorship and an Islamic Journal: A History of the Translations of Milton into Arabic.” Milton Quarterly 46, no. 4 (2012): 219–232.
———. Milton in the Arab-Muslim World. New York: Routledge, 2016.
King Faisal University and University of Dammam Student Forum (2012). <https://vb.ckfu.org/t378082.html>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
Kraidy, Marwan, and Marina Krikorian. “The Revolutionary Public Sphere: The Case of the Arab Uprisings.” Communication and the Public 2, no. 2 (2017): 111–19.
Lyle, Joseph. “Architecture and Idolatry in Paradise Lost.” SEL Studies in English Literature 1500–1900, 40, no. 1 (2000): 139–155.
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Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government. The Arab World Online 2014: Trends in Internet and Mobile Usage in the Arab Region. Dubai: Governance and Innovation Program, 2014. <http://www.mbrsg.ae/getattachment/ff70c2c5-0fce-405d-b23f-93c198d4ca44/The-Arab-World-Online-2014-Trends-in-Internet-and.aspx>.
Mourtada, Racha, and Fadi Salem. Arab Social Media Report 1, No. 2. Dubai: Dubai School of Government, 2011. <https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/DSG_Arab_Social_Media_Report_No_2.pdf>.
New Arts Library. “Paradise Lost: A Brief Summary” (1999), <http://www.paradiselost.org/5-sum-short.html>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
Panović, Ivan. “The Beginnings of Wikipedia Masry.” Al-Logha 8 (2010): 93–127.
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Saeed, Lara. “Internet Penetration Rates in Iraq.” BiteTech. (11 October 2016), <http://www.bite.tech/news/internet-penetration-rates-iraq>. Accessed 20 March 2017.
Said, Edward. “Literature and Literalism.” Al-Ahram Weekly 414 (1999), 28.
University of Hodeida Forums (2011). <http://bright-center.7olm.org/t182-topic>. Accessed 28 June 2017.
Wikimedia statistics. “List of Wikipedias.” <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias>. Statistics at 12:00, 3 July 2017 (UTC).
Wikipedia (Arabic). “al-Firdaws al-Mafqūd.” <https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/المفقود_الفردوس>. Accessed 4 July 2017.
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Issa, I. (2018). The Online Revolution: Milton and the Internet in the Middle East. In: Currell, D., Issa, I. (eds) Digital Milton. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90478-8_8
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