Listening to Umm Kulthūm

Abstract

A well-known journalist in Cairo, Rajā’ al-Naqqāsh, wrote that, as a child, he thought “listening to Umm Kulthūm” meant “listening to singing.” When the adults around him listened to singing, they listened to Umm Kulthūm, thus “singing,” in his youthful experience, equated to “Umm Kulthūm.” While this attitude would be rare in Egypt now as listeners have moved other music into the domains of their daily life, Umm Kulthūm remains a formidable presence as she has been for nearly a century.