Beyond Tokenism:
Media Representation of Copts for Social Integration in Egypt
Introduction
My name is Habiba Mohamed, I am an Egyptian student majoring in International Politics at Georgetown University in Qatar. I have resided in Doha for the entirety of my life, so I always felt detached from Egyptian culture. I did not live among an Egyptian society or come in contact with elements of Egyptian culture day-to-day, so I always had a special interest in researching, understanding, and engaging with Egyptian culture. Films and television were my main outlets to bridge the gap between me and authentic Egyptian culture. I was always familiar with popular cultural heritage and practices in Egypt and keeping up with how they change through media, but it wasn’t until I started researching on an academic level that I came across Coptic culture. This intrigued me to understand why I have never seen aspects of the Coptic culture in any of the Egyptian films or shows I have seen, and that brought to my attention how inadequate Egyptian media is in portraying all the diverse pillars and components of authentic Egyptian culture that represents all Egyptians. We Egyptians are extremely fond of film and television, and our intangible cultural heritage and identity is extremely influenced by them. That being said, not seeing the Coptic culture in films makes Copts extremely excluded from Egyptian culture and identity. This exclusion manifests itself in many different ways, most notably violent attacks on Copts and the destruction of Coptic art and infrastructure; Copts are not viewed as equally Egyptian, and the Coptic culture is not acknowledged as part of Egyptian culture making them vulnerable within Egyptian society. I examine the case of Copts in Egypt not from an idiosyncratic lens, rather it is indicative of a broader problem, in which minority groups and existing cultures are often overlooked in Egypt, and this erodes the richness of the country's culture. A grassroots approach is likely the only remedy to this phenomenon, and the change must start with cinema representation.
Understanding Coptic Identity
There is a common misconception that Copts are merely a religious group, but they are ethnic group with distinct cultural, linguistic, and historic significance.
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Modern situations uncover the blurred lines of Coptic identity. Many Copts no longer live in Egypt and multiple non-Orthodox groups continue to claim a Coptic identity. Perhaps it is time for us to recognize plurality in Coptic identity, and thereby empower multiple Coptic communities. With transnational, interdenominational, cross-cultural, and politicized Coptic claims, maybe we have yet to fully answer our most basic question: who are the Copts?
Since the birth of Christianity, the Coptic Orthodox Church has had a dominant presence in Egypt. Centuries of tradition, art, and liturgical practices support the Church’s Coptic identity claims—particularly claims declaring that Copts in Egypt have withstood invasion and persecution since the 7th century to the modern era. This identity claim serves a modern purpose; representing Coptic experience in a way that legitimizes the Church’s role in Egypt’s social, religious, and political spheres, while also providing Christians a means to reconcile the discrimination they face in modern Egypt"
- Mirna Wasef, Egypt Migrations 2018