Breaking Taboos: Arab Breast Cancer Activism in Art and Popular Culture

Hamdar, Abir

Abstract

This essay examines the breast cancer accounts of four Arab female celebrities who have spoken out in public about their illness experience: the Egyptian TV presenter Basma Wahba and the actress Yasmine Ghaith, the Iraqi actress Namaa al-Ward, and the Lebanese pop singer Elissa. By reading their testimonies against the backdrop of critical literature on illness narratives and memoirs, as well as on cancer narratives and activism, the essay asks: how are the accounts of these women's cancer diagnosis and treatment disclosed and described? In what medium do they communicate and circulate their breast cancer experiences? What significance do these public disclosures have on challenging and breaking the Arab taboo of cancer? In conclusion, the essay argues that these women's willingness to share their stories in public constitutes an important form of multimedia activist intervention-visual, sonic, and performative-that is playing a key role in the development of a breast cancer movement. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).]

Citation

Hamdar, A. (2024). Breaking Taboos: Arab Breast Cancer Activism in Art and Popular Culture. Journal of Medical Humanities, 45, 403–420. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-024-09886-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 13, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 13, 2024
• Publication Date: Sep 13, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 30, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 30, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Medical Humanities
• Print ISSN: 1041-3545
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-3645
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Pages: 403–420
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-024-09886-6
• Keywords: Activism, Cancer, Arab, Popular culture, Art
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2899005