Claiming an Individual

Party, Family and the Politics of Memorialization in the Lebanese Civil War

Bibliographic Data

ID12980225
AuthorsDylan Baun (University of Alabama in Huntsville, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume30
Issue4
Pages353-371
Publication date2021-10-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMiddle East Critique (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1943-6149 • E-ISSN: 1943-6157
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19436149.2021.1989550
OpenAlexW3209821534
LanguageEN
References cited24

Imad Nuwayhid (1944–1975) was a young Lebanese leftist intellectual, hotel employee, and fighter for the Lebanese Communist Party. Alongside thousands of others, he died during the first phase of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1976). This article explores Imad’s life, death, and legacy through the methodology of ‘Microhistory.’ Consulting Imad’s writings alongside party sources, and conducting interviews with those who knew him, it serves as a window into the politics of memorialization in the Lebanese Civil War with a focus on the Lebanese Left. It argues that multiple actors, ranging from party to family members, produced Imad’s ‘martyr narrative.’ Like others of the era, regardless of party, the narrative stressed ideology and sacrifice over individuality to mobilize the living to fight. These strategies did not, however, unfold without resistance. In the case of Imad, some family challenged the party, positing counter-narratives and claiming Imad as theirs: a Nuwayhid. Their actions seek to restore Imad as an individual, but not always as he lived. These findings contribute to the literature on the Lebanese Civil War and its memory, providing a personal touch through a new and novel level of analysis: the individual, their sources, and the battle over memory that surrounds them

Communism · Ideology · Left-wing politics · Literature · Memorialization · Narrative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Middle East Politics and Society

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