"Replete with telling insights into politics and culture, this elegant and riveting examination of representations of crime and law enforcement on Egyptian television in the eventful 2010s identifies recurring themes and patterns on screen as well as the multiple layers of censorship that shape them."--Naomi Sakr, University of Westminster "A remarkable book in the way it forges connections between Egyptian television drama and the law, speaking as much to the general viewer and those interested in cultural studies as it does to legal scholars. Scripting Citizenship uncovers surprising layers of meaning that were always present yet had gone unnoticed. Moving beyond rigid approaches, this book reveals a society's collective unconscious regarding systems of justice, dimensions that conventional legal tools struggle to capture."--Salma Mobarak, Cairo University "In Scripting Citizenship, Gianluca Parolin brings his formidable expertise in Egyptian law to the analysis of television crime drama. Through portraits of ordinary citizens pursuing justice amid dysfunction, Egyptian drama--in Parolin's estimation--does not merely reflect legal practice; it generates legal knowledge. He identifies a "visual jurisprudence of citizenship" that has emerged in response to transformations in Egypt's political landscape, a concomitant restructuring of its media industries, and an evolving set of conventions defining global drama. "--Christa Salamandra, City University of New York "This is the kind of scholarship which the field of law and popular culture has been sorely in need of.
It looks beyond the jurisdictions which have featured hitherto in the literature as well as going beyond film. It is well-researched and is a joy to read. It provides a link to the pioneering work of Cawelti through the insights of writers like Wagner and Sherwin to later semiotics. Into this theoretical mix Parolin locates his rigorous analysis."--Peter Robson, University of Strathclyde "It has been more than two decades since Egyptian TV drama was analyzed within such a broad scope, and despite its historical significance Egyptian TV crime drama has never been this extensively studied. Gianluca Parolin's groundbreaking study relies on his unique (and frankly uncommon) combination of expertise in law and in cinema and TV, thus exceeding an analysis of the genre's mechanics and addressing the socio-historical context in which crime drama became politically significant around the time of the Arab Spring."--Walid El Khachab, York University.