ХЛІБ, ГІДНІСТЬ, СПРАВЕДЛИВІСТЬ І ... ВІДПЛАТА: КОНЦЕПТ QIṢĀṢ ТА ЦІННОСТІ ЄГИПЕТСЬКОЇ РЕВОЛЮЦІЇ

Abstract

The article explores semantic relations between a group of value concepts featuring as part of popular slogans of the Egyptian revolution of January 25, 2011: ḤURRIYA (FREEDOM), ‘ADĀLA (JUSTICE), KARĀMA (DIGNITY) and QIṢĀṢ (RETALIATION). These value concepts broadly applied to make sense of the recent Egyptian revolution represent a rather neatly linked conceptual cluster. The links inside the set are of different nature with many of them encoded in language and embedded in culture and others (such as the link between QIṢĀṢ and ḤURRIYA) – newly constructed. While KARĀMA appears to be the centerpiece of the set, the significance of QIṢĀṢ is that it operates as a cipher key for reading/ascribing meanings to the other elements of the set. The frequent occurrence of QIṢĀṢ, essentially a term of the Islamic normative vocabulary, in the Egyptian revolutionary discourse highlights the significance of the Islamic concepts as common terms of reference for both the religious and the secular parts of the Egyptian society.