Memorials and Martyrs in Modern Lebanon

273 Pages·2010·9.173 MB·English

by  Lucia Volk

Middle east • Cultural studies • anthropology
volk
memorials
MusliM-Christian
CoexistenCe through m
publiC art e martyrs
m
o

r in
“Compelling and compulsively readable. . . .
i
Provides a fascinating historical reading of Lebanon’s a
modern
l
contentious politics over the last century.”
s
&
&
—LaLeh KhaLiLi, SOaS, UniverSity Of LOndOn lebanon

m
Lebanese history is often associated with sectarianism and hostility between a
religious communities, but by examining public memorials and historical r
accounts Lucia Volk finds evidence for a sustained politics of Muslim and t
Christian coexistence. After various episodes of violence in Lebanon’s modern y
r
history, Maronite, Sunni, Shiite, and Druze political elites sought to create cross-
s
community solidarity by publicly honoring the shared sacrifice of civilians of

different religious communities. Even when memorial designs were sharply in

contested, vandalized, or modified, they kept the central image of the civilian- m
as-martyr. This compelling and lucid study enhances our understanding of o
culture and politics in the Middle East and the politics of memory in situations d
of ongoing conflict. e
r
n
LuCiA VoLk is Associate Professor of Anthropology and co-director of
l
Middle East and islamic Studies at San Francisco State university. e
b
a
PUbLic cULtUreS Of the MiddLe eaSt and nOrth africa
n
Paul A. Silverstein, Susan Slyomovics, and Ted Swedenburg, editors
o
Cover illustration: Martyrs Memorial by Yussef Hoayek in downtown Beirut, n
early 1930s. Reprinted with permission of Dar an Nahar, Beirut.
INDIANA
University Press
lucia volk
Bloomington & Indianapolis
INDIANA
www.iupress.indiana.edu
1-800-842-6796
Memorials & Martyrs MECH.indd 1 7/23/10 10:35 AM
memorials and martyrs in modern lebanon
b
recto runningfoot i
public cultures of the middle east and north africa
Paul A. Silverstein, Susan Slyomovics, and Ted Swedenburg, editors
ii memorials and martyrs in modern lebanon
memorials
m art yrs
in modern lebanon
&
lucia volk
b
indiana university press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
recto runningfoot iii
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA
www.iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2010 by Lucia Volk
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on
Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Volk, Lucia.
Memorials and martyrs in modern Lebanon / Lucia Volk.
p. cm. — (Public cultures of the Middle East and North Africa)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-35523-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22230-5 (pbk. : alk.
paper) 1. Martyrs—Monuments—Lebanon. 2. Memorials—Lebanon.
3. Lebanon—Ethnic relations. 4. Nationalism and collective memory—Lebanon.
I. Title.
DS80.4.V65 2010
956.9204—dc22
1 2 3 4 5 15 14 13 12 11 10
iv memorials and martyrs in modern lebanon
For Mary
b
recto runningfoot v
vi memorials and martyrs in modern lebanon
Contents
b
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Transliteration of Arabic xv
Introduction 1
one
The Politics of Memory in Lebanon:
Sectarianism, Memorials, and Martyrdom
17
two
Sculpting Independence:
Competing Ceremonies and Mutilated Faces (1915–1957)
39
three
Remembering Civil Wars:
Fearless Faces and Wounded Bodies (1958–1995)
78
four
Reconstructing while Re-destructing Lebanon:
Dismembered Bodies and National Unity (1996–2003)
115
recto runnviinigfoot vii
five
Revisiting Independence and Mobilizing Resistance:
Assassinations, Massacres, and Divided Memory-Scapes (2004–2006)
154
six
Memorial Politics and National Imaginings:
Possibilities and Limits
189
Appendix
Important Dates
203
Notes 205
Bibliography 231
Index 243
viii memorials avniidi mcaorntytrens tins modern lebanon
illustrations
b
All photographs are by the author, unless otherwise noted in captions.
Map of Lebanon 11
Figure 2.1 Four of the martyrs for Lebanese independence 41
Figure 2.2 Partial view of 1916 Martyrs Cemetery, Beirut, 2008 50
Figure 2.3 Martyrs Memorial by Yussef Hoayek in downtown Beirut,
early 1930s 56
Figure 2.4 Close-up of one of the Hoayek statues in the Sursok
Museum, Beirut, 2008 65
Figure 2.5 “Two Giants” design for Beirut’s new Martyrs Memorial, Al
Hayat, April 27, 1956 72
Figure 3.1 Egg-shaped pond with creator-goose fountainhead, Beqata
Martyrs Memorial, 2008 85
Figure 3.2 Close-up of stone relief of Gamal Abdel Nasser and four
fighters, Beqata Martyrs Memorial, 2008 87
Figure 3.3 Eagle sculpture and symbols of world religions, Beqata Mar-
tyrs Memorial, 2008 90
Figure 3.4 Marino Mazzacurati’s Martyrs Memorial, Beirut,
undated 99
Figure 3.5 May 6 Martyrs Day Parade, Beirut, 1960s 104
recto runniixngfoot ix