Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Lebanon – History – 1990-'

The film starts with another ordinary day, two elderly men playing Backgammon, cars passing by, children playing in the street; scenes anyone anywhere in the world can relate to. Seemingly without warning, as the sun set on that ordinary day, the audience is taken on a perilous journey through war-torn Beirut. Born in Beirut is a thoughtful and poetic examination of war through the eyes of a child who lived through endless conflict in war-torn Beirut. The film examines the futility of war and the price paid in innocent lives.

This licentiate thesis examines the development of Swedish–Lebanese trade relations and the changes of significance for Swedish trade towards Lebanon during the period 1920-1965. The aim of the study is to explore how Sweden as representing a small, open Western economy could develop its economic interests in the emerging Middle East market characterised both by promising economic outlooks, and a high degree of political instability during the age of decolonisation, Cold War logic, and intricate commercial and geo-political factors. The study shows that the Swedish trade with Lebanon was very small during the Interwar period. It was neither possible to find any formal Swedish-Lebanese trade agreements before 1945. In the Post-War period, the promotion of Swedish trade and trade policies towards Lebanon witnessed more interests from the both parties. Two categories of explanations were found for the periods of 1946-53 and 1954-65 respectively. In the first period the Swedish-Lebanese trade developed in a traditional direction with manufactured goods being exported from Sweden and agricultural products being exported from Lebanon. Furthermore, there were no trade agreements between the two countries. In the second period, several Lebanese attempts were made to conclude bilateral trade agreement with Sweden in hope to change the traditional trade direction, and to improve the Lebanese balance of trade. Sweden was, however, convinced that Lebanon could never achieve a balanced foreign trade at least not on a bilateral basis. To maintain a fair access to the Lebanese market, the Swedish authorities avoided to conclude any trade agreement with Lebanon. Despite the Lebanese concern on the big trade deficit between the two countries, Sweden managed in increasing the trade volumes to the region of Middle East through the transit link of Lebanon.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-26T14:52:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RoneySalinaSouza_cap1.pdf: 690592 bytes, checksum: 8bed5d647938c11db681d876ca59b8c5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-19<br>This work approaches the immigration of Syrian and Lebanon people to the city of Dourados on the South of Mato Grosso, from the 1910th to the 1980th . The main factors of expulsion if this population were the imperial interests of European people and the nationalism full of violence and oppression. The continent of America, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of 20th, attracted the immigrant because of the possibility of offering land and employ workers. There are two most important moments on the coming of these immigrants, first on the 1910th with the commencement of urban space formation and after on the 1950th with the implantation of the National Agricultural Colony of Dourados. They went in the activity of peddler what gave them the possibility of gain money and start retail dealer commerce. These agents established a serial of relationship with Brazilian people marked by the Identity negociation: language, organization of institutes, clubs, cookery, dayto-day, weddings. The change of their identity qualifies the presence of Arabian people in Dourados as been hybrid due to it is the existence of two ways of be, the pre-migratory and the pos-one, separated by a border which was in constant change. The source of the elaboration of this work started from the historiographic analyses national and international,search for documents and photos, not only in public archive in the cities of Dourados/MS, Campo Grande/MS and Cuiabá/MT but also at the Historical Museum of Dourados, not to mention that among the Syrian-Lebanon families it was possible to realize interview and evaluate very good information for this work<br>Este trabalho aborda a imigração de sírios e libaneses para a cidade de Dourados, no sul de Mato Grosso, no período de 1910 até a década de 1980. Os principais fatores de expulsão destas populações foram os interesses imperialistas europeus e os nacionalismos marcados pela perseguição e violência. A América, no final do século XIX e início do XX, por sua vez atraia os imigrantes pela possibilidade de oferecer terras e contratar mão-de-obra. Há dois momentos principais na vinda destes imigrantes, inicialmente na década de 1910 com o início da formação do espaço urbano e posteriormente nos anos 1950 na implantação da Colônia Agrícola Nacional de Dourados. Eles ingressaram na atividade de mascate que lhes possibilitou o acúmulo de capital e a montagem do comércio varejista. Estes agentes estabeleceram uma série de relações com os brasileiros marcadas pela negociação de identidades: idioma, organização de instituições e clubes, culinária, cotidiano, casamentos. A modificação de suas identidades qualifica a presença dos árabes em Dourados como sendo híbrida, pois é existência de duas maneiras de ser, a pré-migratória e a pós-migratória, separadas por uma fronteira que esteve em constante movimento. As fontes para a elaboração desta obra partiram da análise historiográfica nacional e internacional, busca por documentos e fotografias não apenas em arquivos públicos nas cidades de Dourados-MS, Campo Grande-MS e Cuiabá-MT, mas também no Museu Histórico de Dourados, sem mencionar que entre as famílias sírio-libanesas foi possível realizar entrevistas e avaliar informações de muito valor para esta tarefa

La recherche entend interroger les fonctions de la littérature et de l’art relativement à un événement violent qui fait l’objet d’un tabou, à savoir le massacre perpétré dans les camps de réfugiés palestiniens de Sabra et Chatila (16-18 septembre 1982), à Beyrouth. Elle s’y applique à partir d’un présupposé : il n’y a pas seulement effraction du réel dans l’art, l’art est le temps à l’œuvre (P. Ricœur, A. Compagnon). La démarche part du constat d’un triple déficit d’histoire, de culte des morts et de justice. Il s’agit d’un événement tu : on le dira tabou. Par ailleurs, elle prend acte de l’émergence d’un corpus d’œuvres dans les champs de la littérature, du cinéma, de l’art contemporain. Dès lors, la recherche entend ausculter les fonctions politiques de la poétique (J. Rancière). Plusieurs hypothèses sont formulées qui ensemble signalent le caractère à la fois transitif et performatif de l’art et de la littérature : d’une part, au regard d’une vérité non avérée dans les livres d’histoire, et du mal de vérité qui en résulte (C. Coquio), les œuvres ont vocation à dire ce que l’histoire tait (I. Jablonka, E. Bouju, A. Imhoff, K. Quirós) ; d’autre part, les victimes n’ayant pas été enterrées, les œuvres déposent une stèle à l’endroit de son manque, rétablissant des égalités en direction de corps qui ne comptent pas (J. Butler) ; enfin, face à une irrésolution judiciaire qui signe le caractère indécidable de l’événement, elles opèrent, par leurs médiations symboliques, la clinique non seulement de l’humain, mais aussi du langage et de l’autorité du sens (A. Gefen, C. Coquio).Située au croisement des études postcoloniales et des études de genre, la recherche examine la politicité de la littérature et de l’art à partir d’un corpus de 14 œuvres prélevées aussi bien à l’épicentre qu’aux périphéries de l’événement<br>The research questions the functions of literature and art in relation to a violent event that is a taboo subject, namely the massacre perpetrated in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila (16-18 September 1982 ), in Beirut. It applies to it with a presupposition: there is not only the breaking of reality in art, art is the time at work (P. Ricœur, A. Compagnon). The process begins with the observation of a triple deficit most evident in historiography, in cult of the dead and justice. This is an event that is held secret: we will call it taboo. In addition, it takes note of the emergence of a corpus of works in the fields of literature, cinema, contemporary art. From then on, the research intends to auscultate the political functions of poetics (J. Rancière). Several hypotheses are formulated which together signal the transitive and performative character of art and literature: on the one hand, in the shade of a truth not recorded in history books, i.e. of the melancholy of truth resulting from this missing (C. Coquio), the works are meant to tell what history conceals (I. Jablonka, E. Bouju, A. Imhoff, K. Quirós); on the other hand, since the victims have not been buried, the works deposit a stele at the place of its absence, restoring equalities towards bodies that do not count (J. Butler); finally, faced with a judicial irresolution which signifies the undecidable character of the event, they operate, through their symbolic mediations, the rehabilitating clinic not only of the human being, but also of the language and the authority of sense (A. Gefen, C. Coquio). Situated at the crossroads of postcolonial studies and gender studies, the research examines the politicity of literature and art of a body of 14 works collected from both the epicenter and the periphery of the event

When Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin met in Washington D.C to sign the Oslo Accords on September 13th 1993, it was a monumental occasion. While the international community applauded the agreement, many within the Palestinian camp felt betrayed. The parameters set by the Declaration of Principles gave preference to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories over the millions of Palestinians living in the diaspora. Thus the Palestinian refugees outside the Occupied Territories felt marginalized. This sense of marginalization was intensified by the fact that the final status arrangements, that included the issue of the refugees, had been put aside for discussion following the five-year interim period. Of all the Palestinian refugees living outside the Occupied Territories those in Lebanon felt the most vulnerable. The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as well as many segments of the Lebanese population feared that the Oslo process would lead to the resettlement of the refugees in the country. While the official process, however, put the question of the refugees and their Right of Return on the shelf, there was a significant conversation happening on the so-called 'third-track.' This dissertation examines this track, which was comprised of three major conferences that took place during the Oslo interim period. Drawing on the papers and reports that were generated by these conferences, in addition to interviews with some of the participants, the dissertation tells the story of how third-track participants thought about the future of the Palestinian refugees during the Oslo process.<br>Lorsque Yasser Arafat et Yitzhak Rabin se sont rencontrés à Washington DC afin de signer les Accords d'Oslo le 13 septembre 1993, c'était un évènement monumental. Pour la première fois depuis le début du conflit, les Israëliens et les Palestiniens se rencontraient face à face, et se sont mis d'accord de franchir les premiers pas vers la résolution du conflit. Pendant que la communauté internationale saluait ce geste, plusieurs du camps Palestiniens se sentaient trahis. Il semblait que les critères décidés par la Déclaration des principes favorisaient les Palestiniens des Territoires Occupés Palestiniens, plutôt que les millions des Palestiniens vivant dans la diaspora. En particulier, les réfugiés Palestiniens hors des Territoires Occupés Palestiniens se sentaient mis à l'écart. Ce sens de la marginalisation a été intensifié par le fait que les arrangements du statut final, qui incluaient le point sur les réfugiés, ont été repoussés en discussion après une période d'intérim de cinq ans. De tous les réfugiés Palestiniens vivant hors des Territoires Occupés Palestiniens, ceux du Liban se sentaient les plus vulnerables. Les réfugiés Palestiniens du Liban ainsi que plusieurs parties de la population Libanaise craignaient que le processus d'Oslo provoqueraient la relocalisation des réfugiés du pays. Pendant que la procedure officielle sur les réfugiés et leur droit au retour était mis de côté, il y avait un dialogue important en parallèle, dans ce qui est prénommé le « third-track ». Cette dissertation examine ce canal d'échange en parallèle, qui consiste en trios conférences majeures qui ont eu lieu pendant la période intérim d'Oslo. En utilisant les essais et rapports qui ont été faits suite à ces conférences, en plus d'entretiens avec certains des participants, la dissertation raconte comment les participants en parallèle (« third-track participants ») pensaient l'avenir des réfugiés Palestiniens pendant le processus d'Oslo.

The purpose of this study was to trace the historical development of the American University of Beirut and its educational contributions in Lebanon and the Middle East from 1920 to 1967. Through their activities in the Levant in the early nineteenth century, the American missionaries virtually laid the foundations of the Syrian Protestant College, later known as the American University of Beirut. Though religion was the cornerstone in the founding of the University, under the pressure of the local environment, its secular character was to be substituted for the religious one. The establishment of the University in 1866 marked the beginning of the system of higher education in the Arab world. As the first established institution of higher learning, the University played a significant role in raising the level of literacy throughout the region. Despite the difficult times that the University faced throughout its history, it survived and continued its dedicated mission to serve the people of Lebanon and the entire area. For the University, the first 50 years under Ottoman rule was a period of surviving and maintaining its existence. With the freedom it came to enjoy during the French Mandate and later during independence, the University moved into a period of advancing and expanding. By the 1960s the University had become a prestigious institution and captured the support of most people and governments in the area. The study's six chapters describe the historical setting of Lebanon and the origins of its religious groups, the historical background of the American University of Beirut, the educational activities of the University during the French Mandate, and its educational activities under independent Lebanon. The thesis showed that the University had a significant role in the education of the Lebanese and the peoples of the area, and that it has significantly contributed to the development of Lebanon and the Middle East.

This research examines the establishment and expansion of Hezbollah. It uses a policy perspective in explaining the growth of this organization. Moreover, it focuses on Israel's disproportionate use of force in Lebanon as a major cause behind the very existence of Hezbollah. The analysis of Israeli policy will be done by examining three separate conflicts as case studies. These events are: the 1982 (Peace for Galilee) invasion of Lebanon that helped to create Hezbollah, the 1996 (Operation Grapes of Wrath) Hezbollah-Israeli conflict which served to bolster Hezbollah in Lebanon, and finally the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli war which solidified Hezbollah as a military force in the region. The first part of the study analyzes the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon to dismantle PLO bases and the resulting vacuum filled by Hezbollah. In an effort to eliminate Hezbollah, Israel again invaded Lebanon in 1996 allowing Hezbollah to expand its power based in Lebanon by providing a number of services including healthcare, financial services, and construction among others. In 2006, Israel again invaded Lebanon resulting in an increase in weapons shipments and funding to Hezbollah from Syria, Iran and a number of other countries, further increasing danger to Israel. These invasions have served to bolster Hezbollah in Lebanon. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the repercussions of Israeli military invasions in Lebanon.<br>ID: 030423073; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-130).<br>M.A.<br>Masters<br>Political Science<br>Sciences

" Le sujet de cette thèse traitera du Liban entre les deux retraits israélien et syrien, 2000 - 2005.En effet, cette récente période s'inscrit comme l'une des plus critiques dans l'histoire contemporaine du Liban. La guerre civile déclenchée en avril 1975 est officiellement terminée en octobre 1990 par une " paix syrienne " imposée aux belligérants Libanais, soutenue par la Ligue Arabe et la communauté internationale. Cette période de paix entre 1990 et 2005, fut d'une part une période de reconstruction et de développement du Liban. Mais d'autre part, ces quinze années témoignent d'un profond malaise et mécontentement inscrits dans une situation globale apparemment paisible mais en fait marquée de fragilités politiques, sociales et communautaires profondes.Deux évènements majeurs - les retraits : israélien en 2000 et syrien en 2005 - viennent bouleverser ce statut quo libanais et déclenchent le processus inévitable d'une nouvelle " démocratisation " du Liban dont les conséquences ne cessent de se ressentir et de rebondir à ce jour. Entre ces deux retraits, un troisième " évènement choc ", le 11 septembre 2001 semble au regard de certains Libanais la perspective d'une nouvelle politique américaine et européenne dans la région.Cette période sera marquée au Liban, par les événements d'août 2000, arrestations arbitraires à l'encontre des opposants au régime prosyrien, la fermeture forcée de la chaîne de télévision libanaise anti syrienne MTV, les discours virulents des prélats maronites de l'église du Liban et du patriarche du Liban contre le régime en place, la nouvelle politique du leader druze Walid Joumblatt, l'éloignement du Premier Ministre libanais Rafic Hariri de la politique syrienne, et le début de la création d'une opposition multiconfessionnelle contre la reconduction du président libanais prosyrien Emile Lahoud, le vote de la résolution 1559 au conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, et finalement le " 11 septembre libanais " ou l'assassinat de Rafic Hariri, en février 2005 et la " révolution du Cèdre " qui en suit.

La guerre du Liban (1975-1990) a vu émerger dès son commencement une littérature féminine caractérisée par le décentrement du regard et de la représentation, qui inspira le nom donné par Miriam Cooke aux auteures femmes ayant écrit la guerre à Beyrouth : les "Beirut Decentrists". Ces dernières sont à l’origine d’un corpus prolifique et hétérogène, dont les œuvres, pour la grande majorité hybrides et polyphoniques, se rejoignent dans une interrogation sur l’espace urbain comme protagoniste, et sur la place occupée par l’auteure dans un paysage en perpétuel devenir. Ce travail de recherche, qui s’inscrit dans la géocritique, se propose d’explorer les espaces investis par ces femmes pendant la guerre. Que peuvent-ils nous apprendre sur la ville en guerre ? Surtout, quelles Beyrouth(s) possibles peuvent naître après la tentative organisée d’un urbicide par la société de milices qui a contrôlé la ville pendant quinze ans ? Le corpus couvre la totalité de la durée de la guerre, mais il comprend aussi des textes écrits dans les années qui ont suivi, indiquant la prégnance de la guerre dans le temps de l’après-conflit. En quoi le point de vue des "Beirut Decentrists" peut-il contribuer à la construction de la mémoire dans un pays qui cultive l’amnésie tout en croulant sous un « excès de mémoire » ? Ces territoires traversés et transgressés où ville, écriture et expérimentation poétique s’entrecroisent, nous permettent de mettre en perspective les notions de frontières et les considérations binaires de centre et de périphérie. En proposant une lecture géographique des textes des Beirut Decentrists, nous espérons renouveler la perspective sur la guerre, sur les femmes dans la guerre, sur la perception de la ville et la façon de faire avec la mémoire de celles-ci<br>When the Lebanese war broke out in 1975, many women scattered in Beirut started writing about their feeling of being decentered. Miriam Cooke called them the "Beirut Decentrists". Their texts about the war in Beirut experiment with a variety of literary genres and devices such as hybridity and polyphony, yet all intersect around one interrogation: urban space as a protagonist and the woman writer’s role in this ever-changing landscape. This research inspired by geocriticism explores the spaces wandered by these women during the war. What can we learn about the war-torn city? Moreover, is it possible for new Beirut(s) to emerge from a fifteen-year militia-lead organized urbicide? Our corpus covers the entire war along with texts written during the postwar years. The latter giving us precious indications of how war still influences the conflict’s aftermath. What contribution can the "Beirut Decentrists" unique perspective bring to the construction of a collective memory in a country where amnesia and an excess of memory still coexist? Urban landscape, writing and poetic experimentation intersect and blend in these traveled and transgressed territories, thus allowing us to challenge the notion of border and binary narratives of center and periphery. Through a geographical reading of the Beirut Decentrists’ texts, we wish to renew the perspective on the war, on women in war, as well as the perception of the city and the ways to deal with memory

This thesis investigates Swedish trade promotion in Lebanon from 1920 to 1975. The aim is to increase knowledge about how actors in a small open western economy tried to develop their economic interests in an emerging market characterized by great uncertainty. Here, the promising economic outlook coincided with a high degree of political instability. The study analyzes the interactions between Swedish trade related authorities, organizations and companies in their efforts to develop Swedish business interests in Lebanon: a developing country in a conflict-affected area with potentially large and emerging markets, where the cultural distance to Sweden was significant. In this study a model, which is known as the Uppsala model, forms an analytical interpretative framework for studying the actions and strategies of the trade related authorities and organizations despite the model's specific perspective on the establishment process of firms abroad. Based on the taxonomy, which is the basis of this interpretative model, this interpretative framwork has been possible to apply because of the assumed interactions between trade related authorities/organizations and companies when establishing commercial presence in new markets. The assumption is that the trade related authorities and organizations enhance for companies in various ways, while there is an economic-political interest that the state strives to reach by encouraging companies to set up business in new markets. By using this model, the events have been systematized through a historical generalization and periodization of Swedish trade promotion and organization. Added with the type of knowledge development that has taken place. In this way, the role of authorities and organizations in trade promotion and organizational build-up abroad has been highlighted. The results show that Swedish trade promotion attempts and organization in Lebanon took place in close cooperation with Swedish trade related authorities and organizations through their information inflows. In practice the companies' needs for information and assistance were reflected in the work that has been exercised by the authorities and organizations. By playing an important role in information building, escalating network positions and at the same time providing the companies with specific information, the trade related authorities and organizations became key actors in the development of Swedish trade relations with Lebanon. The study concludes that new perspectives can be obtained by including trade related authorities and organizations when using the Uppsala model in future studies.<br>Denna avhandling studerar svenska handelsfrämjande åtgärder i Libanon 1920-1975. Syftet är att öka kunskapen om hur aktörer i en liten öppen västekonomi försökte utveckla sina ekonomiska intressen på en ny framväxande marknad präglad av stor osäkerhet, där lovande ekonomiska utsikter sammanföll med en hög grad av politisk instabilitet. I studien analyseras samspelet mellan svenska handelsrelaterade myndigheter, organisationer och företag i deras strävan att utveckla svenska handels- och affärsintressen i Libanon: ett land som betraktas här som ett utvecklingsland i ett konfliktdrabbat område med potentiellt stora och nya marknader med ett betydande kulturellt avstånd till Sverige. I studien utgör den så kallade Uppsalamodellen den analytiska tolkningsramen för att studera myndigheternas och intresseorganisationernas agerande och strategier, trots att modellens perspektiv bygger på företagens utlandsetablering. Med utgångspunkt i den taxonomi som är grunden i modellen har denna tolkningsram varit möjlig på grund av det samspel som antas finnas mellan företag och myndigheter, särskilt när det gäller etablerandet av en affärsmässig närvaro på en ny och osäker marknad. Antaganden är att myndigheterna på olika sätt underlättar för företagen, samtidigt som det finns ett statligt ekonomisk-politiskt intresse att få företag att etablera sig på nya marknader. Med hjälp av modellen har händelseförloppen systematiserats genom en historisk generalisering och periodisering av svenska handelsfrämjande åtgärder med avseende på organisation och den typ av kunskapsuppbyggnad som skett. Därmed belyses också myndigheternas och organisationernas roll vid företagsetableringar i utlandet. Resultaten visar att företagsetableringsförsöken och organisationen av svensk handel i Libanon skedde i nära samarbete mellan svenska myndigheter och organisationer genom utbyte av information. I praktiken avspeglades företagens behov av information och hjälp i myndigheternas och organisationernas arbete. I och med att myndigheterna/organisationerna deltog i informationsuppbyggnaden, skapandet av nätverkspositioner och samtidigt förmedlade information mellan företagen var dessa betingade som centrala aktörer vid etableringen av svenska handelsförbindelser med Libanon. Studiens slutsats är att nya perspektiv gällande företagsetableringar på utländska marknader kan erhållas genom att inkludera myndigheters och organisationers agerande vid tillämpningen av Uppsala modellen i framtida studier.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2008.<br>Title from screen (viewed on July 8, 2008). Department of History, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Robert G. Barrows, Nancy Marie Robertson, Marianne S. Wokeck. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-172).

This dissertation investigates the social world of contemporary filmmakers in the Middle East and the way they use visual media to re-imagine existent forms of identity, envision new modes of social agency, and transform public culture in the face of dramatic instability. In the wake of the Lebanese civil war and through the tenuous postwar period, video art and experimental documentary have critiqued the politics of representation and negotiated the theoretical and structural difficulties in representing the war. These artists have activated intersections where experimental media has generated a vibrant visual culture by both building on local notions of cosmopolitanism and by participating in transnational sites of postcolonial representation. Methodologically, I employ ethnography to grapple with the public culture of Beirut as a site of avant-garde experimentation, but also to examine the city as a contested site affected by periods of rapid growth, intense violence, and urban reconstruction. To explain this cultural phenomenon, I advance the idea of 'post-orientalist aesthetic' to describe a mode of intellectual critique and artistic style that goes beyond Edward Said's critique to give greater attention to self-representation in the post-911 period. This aesthetic interrogates western representational practices and also develops a localized critical analysis of Middle Eastern visual culture. This aesthetic informs a better understanding of postwar subjectivity, particularly in the way memory and lived experience becomes mediated through the materiality of objects, images, and architecture affectively inscribed with destruction and violence. The notion of the archive or the personal collection becomes of particular interest here; especially in the way these artifacts embody personalized narratives and testimonials that push back from abstracted notions of a monolithic historical narrative. Drawing on visual anthropology, media ethnography, and nonwestern film theory, this text examines the way these artists challenge realist modes of representation by utilizing both ethnographic and artistic approaches to grapple with the experience of everyday violence. In order to explore methodologies for conducting visual research in conflict zones, I conclude with an experimental auto-ethnography that appropriates these aesthetics in an effort to interrogate my positionality as an American researcher in the Middle East.<br>text

This dissertation brings together a study of French and Arabic literature and the cultural history of post-independence Lebanon (1943—1975). It is intended first as a contribution to post-colonial criticism and historical literature on decolonization. Second, as a contribution to literary and historical research on multilingualism, as it undergoes various changes to recover “sub-national” narratives, gestures and behaviours that subvert ideas about homogenous national identities. It begins with a set of questions about language: in the context of multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies, such as Lebanon, what is the place of language in configurations of diversity, and what is its relationship with religion? What relationships do minorities seek or preserve with the national language at or after decolonization, and how does this affect their relationship with the state? Why do some collectives assert linguistic homogeneity and why do others promote more room? Finally, can language acquire indigeneity? While multilingualism in modern-day Lebanon is a wide-spread social practice, it is far from simple. I argue that in the aftermath of independence in 1943, a forgotten and eventually failed project of bilingualism was promoted by a conservative, nationalist and mainly Christian Maronite network of intellectuals, writers and academics attached to the Francophone university in Beirut. The project raised red flags for partisans of Arabic in Lebanon who argued that bilingualism was nothing more than a conceptual “fig leaf” for maintaining a colonial tie with France as well as an established cultural and political status quo that worked in favor of Lebanon’s Maronites. The project therefore failed to be adopted by a wider, national collective. Well before the start of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, the project was dropped even by those who had initially rallied to its cause. This work analyzes bilingualism at the encounter of literature, law and the social sciences, both as disciplinary approaches and respective local discourses. In this way, I examine how descriptive, prescriptive and imaginary genres converge in the discourse of nation-building. Through a constellation of readings of debates over the place of bilingualism in legal education, cultural anthropology, and the literary field, and a close reading of French and Arabic literary works, this study asks how the strategic use of language by newly independent citizens casts a light on bilingualism as a multidimensional social and discursive reality and not a purely linguist or literary phenomenon as is often considered. My theoretical point of departure, therefore, is to study how language can play a role in constructing a knowledge-based discourse that incorporates law, literature, and the social sciences. There are two crucial aspects of this story that run throughout the histories and texts I engage with in this project. The first is that the project of bilingualism was part of a wider interest in making national identity defined by bilingualism. In so doing, it diluted the radical alterity nominally attached to multilingualism in the national setting. Yet the bilingual project might also be considered a radical one. In part, it setting out to enforce the re-signification of bilingualism in a postcolonial era, it sought, to an extent, to attenuate the centrality of the confessional structures of state. The project therefore draws our attention to the kinds of thought experiments that developed in the process of decolonization and the early years of the Cold War, a mode of creative thinking that was dropped and replaced by more hegemonic structures. But its failure indicates why, when this idea was deployed, it became the price to pay for the expected unity of the national collective. Ultimately, the bilingual project was vulnerable to critique and the failure of its re-signification was due to it being slated as an elite postcolonial project legitimizing Christian power in “cultural” terms. A second crucial aspect of this story is that the project, while representing a failure, is nevertheless conceptually critical for several reasons. This project of linguistic diversity engendered a new politics of interpretation of text and society that led intellectuals, academics, writers and politicians to articulate the cultural stakes of the new nation-state. Indeed what we risk missing in the representation of bilingualism —as elite, conservative, confessional and colonial— is that the project generated a culture of textual critique based on the language of diversity and difference in law, the social sciences and literature. The bilingual project demonstrates the extent to which the disciplines of law, social sciences and literature in Lebanon co-constituted one another after independence. The failure of bilingualism therefore produced new forms of cultural knowledge, and is a small but important feature of post-independence Lebanon.

The creative submission for my dissertation includes two of my documentary works: They Will Take My Island, a thirty-minute multimedia collaboration with filmmaker Atom Egoyan for amplified string octet, electronic track, and film, commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Paper Pianos, a ninety-minute staged collaboration with director Nigel Maister and projection artist Kevork Mourad. The written submission for my dissertation is an examination of the ways in which experiences around transgenerational trauma inform and manifest in my creative practice. I offer a summary of my own family history of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and Lebanese Civil War, as well as a survey of displacement amongst the Armenian community in the past century. Furthermore, I discuss identity processing as diaspora and the act of cultural preservation, as inspired by genocide survivor, composer, priest, writer, and musicologist, Komitas Vardapet. I later examine these ideas in the context of creating They Will Take My Island and Paper Pianos, both of which were constructively motivated by transgenerational survivor’s guilt and draw from extra-musical documentary and horror genre practices.