Literature Review:
The ramifications of the Civil War in Lebanon continue to be felt today. The purpose of this dissertation is to illustrate and critically examine how war memories can be manipulated and used as a political weapon. While previous scholars have explored this issue in some depth, the case of Lebanon offers a compelling study to achieve a broader understanding in the field.
Politics of Memory
Verovšek offers a useful understanding of the politics of memory, which he believes to revolve around the collection and organisation of historical memory by political agents, in order to determine significant events worth recording, or to discard records of past events considered inconsequential (Verovšek 2016, p. 529). Benazzo (2017) keenly observes how cultural forces, such as popular culture and social norms, are among a number of factors that influence the memories and history of a nation. He further advances the notion that cumulative memory practices have been recognized to connect directly with the identity of a particular society (p. 215).
Verovšek also offers greater clarity by illustrating how legislators exploit past mythologized memories as a political instrument to promote their current interests and agendas (Verovšek 2016, p. 529). He notes how the influences of collective memory usually traverse the entire political hierarchy – bottom to top. From the bottom, past interpretations affect how citizens perceive the political elite. Conversely, an observation from the top reveals how political figures manipulate and mobilise the national recognition of particular events through public statements (Verovšek 2016, p. 529).
While some history researchers of political memory, such as Verovšek, have focused on identifying the substantial collective memory content expressed by various political players within the institutions of a particular state (2016, p. 529), others, like Vinitzky-Seroussi and Fowler have concentrated on formal interaction channels characterised by debates on whether to sustain or silence past memories (2010). Verovšek’s approach of focussing on particular states has led to revelatory findings concerning the politics of memory in certain regions of the world. For example, the political relevance of collective remembrance can be observed from the significant role played by post-war (WWII) memories not only in the internal politics of Italy and Slovenia, but also in their diplomatic relations (Verovšek 2016, p. 529).
War Memories in Divided Societies
Civil war leaves behind its own distinct form of war memory in the nation affected. Understanding the impact and role of such memory in Lebanon requires thorough scrutiny of scholarly or other expert findings concerning war memory in other divided nations, as well as in Lebanon. Crucial engagement with regard to the Lebanese Civil War outside scholastic history has been achieved through mass media, in popular or elite culture-based productions, and political statements (Sune 2011, p. 2). For instance, in the illuminating investigative documentary Shankill War Memories with interview conducted by Mary Ann Quigley (NVTV 2013), Northern Ireland ex-servicemen reiterate memories of collective loss during war. Evidently, despite being a divided society, Northern Ireland has a collective memory of the Belfast Blitz and the destruction by German bombers, now the joint antagonist, as well as the American soldiers in patrol cars around the parks (McAuley n.d.). For this reason, Irish ex-servicemen are reciprocally remembered for their courage and sacrifice. Similarly, sectarian critics believe that the resilience of the Lebanese civil society was solely responsible for securing the future existence of Lebanon as a recognized state (Sune 2011, p. 4).
In his book, The Lebanese Post-Civil War Novel: Memory, Trauma, and Capital, Felix Lang, building upon analytic works of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, shines light on collective Lebanese literature since the Civil War ended in 1990 with great emphasis on writers, readers, buyers of the literary works, sellers, and a special focus on people who build their reputations, lives, and careers around these literary works. His study of archived non-fictional literature, interviews, and ethnographic fieldwork which contrasted current un-established writers with canonical authors revealed that: (1) many young writers feel the need to continue writing about the war in order to gain accreditation from the older generation of authors that still controls the literary arena in Lebanon as, among other positions, local news editors, and (2) regardless of individual style, all writers characteristically belonged to a subset of liberal humanists in the Lebanese society that was not only democratic and secular, but also either in sync with amnesia sponsored by the state, or in continued suppression of traumatic war memories (2016). The result is widespread construction of what Lang refers to meta-narratives that are generation-specific.
Modes of Collective Memories and Expressions of War
Theorists have developed contemporary definitions of collective memory that generally fall into two schools of thought by contrasting Kammen’s approach of collective memory with Bodnar’s approach of collective remembering. While Kammen perceives collective memory as attached to material objects outside an individual, and not inside a person’s memory per se, Bodnar believes collective memory to be the accurate unsullied remembrance of the society as represented in its vernacular. Kammen (1997) defines collective memory as the public presentation of the past through museum exhibitions, speeches, sermons, school textbooks, and editorials (p. 12). However, there are some scholars who opt to view the two theories as congruent.
Huagbolle asserts that memories of war are collective and can be preserved in societal institutions, such as through stories, laws, traditions, rituals, and rules; or, openly institutionalized as public displays in museums, and as monuments or historical sites (2017). In this theory, institutionalised memories become a summary of various parts of a culture and cease to be individual. Haddad observes how the Beirut Civil War museum in Lebanon is housed in a building located at what was historically a commanding crossroads - “the intersection of death” -and as a strategic post for a Christian Militia during the 15-year civil war (Haddad 2009). Interestingly, Beirut remains profoundly divided despite the extant monuments symbolic of reconciliation and remembrance.
Consociationalism’s Argument and its relevance to Lebanon
Ljiphart coined the consociational theory to explicate how peace can be restored in a society that has been recently divided by war. Sociologists suggest that by establishing power-sharing institutions, it can be possible to facilitate accommodation as well as cooperation among the political elites. Meier further notes that consociationalism is based on the fundamentals of reconciling non-democratic ethnic and religious fragments of society through political alliances driven by consociational ideals (2013). In this case, the need for inclusivity, only achievable through power-sharing, led to the establishment of the Lebanese consociational governing system. However, the failure of Consociationalism in Lebanon can be attributed to turbulent regional systems and increasing authoritarian features in the operations preceding the war that simultaneously derailed elements of consociationalism. The distortion in consociationalism was further accelerated by the lack of democratic practices (Nelson 2013), and discordant inter-community relations (Haddad 2009)
Post-Civil War in Lebanon
Lebanon, with only a population of slightly over 3.1 Million, witnessed the most violent and bloodiest civil war in the twentieth century which protracted from 1975 to 1990 culminating to almost 250, 000 forced refugees, 200, 000 casualties, and approximately 150,000 deaths; which includes disappearances and kidnappings where the victims have not been recovered to date (Zisser 2011; Sune 2011). Therefore, understanding the nature of collective war memory in the now cross-sectarian Lebanon requires a grasp of more than academic literature concerning post-Civil War Lebanese society. Furthermore, according to Sune (2011), the resultant cease fire following the 1989 Ta’if Accord notwithstanding, “the core conflicts of the war, including the sectarian division of power in Lebanon, the Palestinian refugee issue, the presence of Syrian forces on Lebanese soil and Syrian tutelage, and Hizbollah’s status as the only armed militia” were never fully addressed (p. 1).
Substantive Findings and Contributions
The general Lebanese population perceives political violence as not only “endemic to their body politic”, but also as a major cause of “continued political instability in the country” (Sune 2011, p. 1). As a result, the ICTJ (International Center for Transitional Justice) responded by carrying out a contest in collaboration with the Switzerland embassy in 2015 to constructively recall the past war. Nonetheless, many of the Lebanese youth participants born after 1990 were eager to learn about the war which is a clear indication that the Lebanon war memory is eroding as generations pass. As postulated by Noureddine (2017), while 82.9% of the young participants noted an increase in their general knowledge of the war, 66.4% of them expressed that the entire nation of Lebanon had been affected by the war. Additionally, while many feared the reoccurrence of conflicts, the respondents mentioned that their political leaders would be culpable if such scenario existed. However, to prevent such reoccurrences of internal strife in the country, Lebanese citizens must rely on the collective commemoration of this memory.
Given this reality, there is still much to be explored regarding the impact of the Lebanese Civil War on the nation and its people today. A review of the literature concerning war memory and collective memory, particularly in divided countries, coupled with a literature review of key features of the Lebanese society, such as consociationalism, cross-sectarianism and the political reality of post-Civil War Lebanon, provides a framework for understanding the nexus between political manipulation and war memory in Lebanon today.
References
Benazzo, S., 2017. Not All the Past Needs To Be Used: Features of Fidesz’s Politics of Memory. Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics, vol. 11 no. 2, pp. 198–215.
Fowler, B., 2005. Collective memory and forgetting: Components for a study of obituaries. Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 22 no. 6, pp.53-72.
Haddad, S., 2009. Lebanon: From Consociationalism to Conciliation. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, vol. 15 no. (3-4), pp. 398-416.
Haugbolle, S., 2017. Best Practices of Global Memory and the Politics of Atonement in Lebanon. [online] Link Springer. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-65027-2_3 [Accessed 25 Jan. 2018].
Kammen, M.G., 1997. In the past lane: Historical perspectives on American culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
Lang, F., 2016. The Lebanese post-civil war novel: memory, trauma, and capital. US. Palgrave Macmillan.
McAuley, E., (n.d.).The Wartime Memories Project - Northern Ireland. [online] Wartimememories.co.uk. Available at: http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/northernireland.html [Accessed 27 Jan. 2018].
Meier, D., 2013. Borders, Boundaries and Identity Building in Lebanon: An Introduction. Mediterranean Politics, vol. 18 no. 3, pp. 352-357.
Nelson, S., 2013. Is lebanon’s confessional system sustainable. Journal of Politics & International Studies, 9(Summer), pp.332-387.
Noureddine, N., 2017. The War As I See It: Youth Perceptions and Knowledge of the Lebanese Civil War. International Center for Transitional Justice. [online] Available at: https://www.ictj.org/publication/youth-perceptions-lebanon-civil-war [Accessed 27 Jan. 2018].
NVTV, 2013. Shankill War Memories. Northern Visions Archive. United Kingdom: [online] Available at: http://archive.northernvisions.org/specialcollections/shankill-war-memories/ [Accessed 27 Jan. 2018].
Sune, H., 2011. The historiography and the memory of the Lebanese civil war. Sciences Po portal., pp. 1-13, Available at: https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/historiography-and-memory-lebanese-civil-war [Accessed February 1, 2018].
Verovšek, P.J., 2016. Collective Memory, Politics, and the Influence of the Past: The Politics of Memory as aEesearch Paradigm. Politics, Groups, and Identities, vol. 4 no. 3, pp. 529-543.
Vinitzky-Seroussi, V. and Teeger, C., 2010. Unpacking the unspoken: Silence in collective memory and forgetting. Social Forces, vol. 88 no. 3, pp.1103-1122.
Volk, L. 2017. Memory Politics in Lebanon a Generation after the Civil War.Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, vol. 10 no. (2-3), pp. 293-298.
Zisser, E., 2011. Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). The Encyclopedia of War.
