LATA'IF AL-MUSAWWARA MAGAZINE

trendsetting egyptian weekly magazine.

Al-Lata'if al-Musawwara (Illustrated witticisms) was a pictorial compilation of current events, politics, famous people, social organizations, sporting events, fashion, and social criticism. It was founded by Iskandar Shahin Makarius, whose family was also involved with the publication of al-Lata'if, al-Muqtataf, and alMuqattam. The journal began in 1915, at a time when pictures of any sort were rare in Egyptian publications. Nevertheless, by the final year of its publication in 1941, many other journals began to copy and surpass its style, and its original readership was drained perhaps by its own offshoots: al-Awlad (Children), al-Arusa (Bride), and al-Fan al-Sinema'i (Cinematic art).

Since early twentieth century, Egypt was a place in which even urban literacy rates were low, a journal with large pictures and easy-to-read text was a welcome innovation. Makarius invited readers to submit their own photographs of unusual occur-rences, crimes, sporting events, celebrities, oddities, and children, as well as political cartoons or caricatures. Promoting photography was typical of the magazine's support of new styles of consumption, as was its advanced advertising. Advertisements promoted local (non-Western) products, stores, and industries, often utilizing nationalist iconography. Ads appealed to women through the use of indigenous models, feminine forms of address, and products for the modern Egyptian home. Although these techniques became common in the early 1920s, in 1915 they were innovative. The emphasis on advertising demonstrated a shift from the limited press of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which had depended upon subventions and subscriptions. Makarius promoted his advertising department, boasting immediate results in a 1920 advertisement and claiming a circulation of 40,000. While this figure is probably close to double the true circulation, the magazine had appeal to readers of Arabic as far away as Brazil.

see also art; gender: gender and education; newspapers and print media: arab countries.

mona russell