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Tami Mohammad Aisha, The English and Foreign Languages University, IndiaAbstract
This article analyses the performative dynamics of language in the chants of the Syrian demonstrations (2011–2024) in relation to Tarif Youssef-Agha’s memoir The Chronicles of the Syrian Revolution: The Orphan Uprising the Entire World Betrayed. It employs an interdisciplinary framework that draws on Richard Schechner’s theory of Environmental Theatre. Schechner reconceptualises performance as an immersive practice in which space, sound, participants, and audiences collectively constitute meaning, thereby challenging the boundary between staged performance and lived experience. Within this framework, Syrian street-protest chants, such as “Ash-sha‘ab yureed isqaaṭ an-niẓam” (The people want the fall of the regime) and “Janna, janna ya watana” (Paradise, paradise, O homeland), are examined as embodied performative acts that transform public spaces into sites of collective expression and resistance. These chants are characterised by colloquial Syrian Arabic, repetition, and rhythmic structures that facilitate mass participation and contribute to the construction of collective identity. Youssef-Agha’s memoir mediates this process by transforming street chants into poetic and narrative forms that bear witness to trauma. This article contributes to interdisciplinary discussions of linguistic performativity, revolutionary expression, and Middle Eastern cultural studies by highlighting the role of embodied language in shaping revolutionary experience.
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Conference: ECAH2026Stream: Humanities - Literature/Literary Studies*
Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
This paper is part of the ECAH2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Aisha T. (2026) Chanting Revolution: Environmental Performance in Syrian Protests Chants and Youssef-Agha’s The Chronicles of the Syrian Revolution ISSN: 2188-1111 – The European Conference on Arts & Humanities 2026: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 71-83) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1111.2026.7
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1111.2026.7
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