Garbage, corruption, and political protest in Lebanese literature and film

Bibliographic Data

ID21726488
AuthorsMaya Aghasi (0000-0002-4007-7200, American University of Sharjah, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume26
Issue1
Pages8-28
Publication date2023-01-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMiddle Eastern Literatures (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1475-262X • E-ISSN: 1475-2638
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1475262x.2023.2194014
OpenAlexW4367677891
LanguageEN
References cited20

This article explores the representation of garbage in Lebanese literature and film, focusing on the children’s book, Picture Perfect (2021), by Najla El Khatib (b. 1987) and two films by director Mounia Akl (b. 1989): Submarine (al-Ghawwāṣa, 2016) and Costa Brava, Lebanon (Kūstā brāfā, 2021). Each reframes socio-political crisis, including the 2015 garbage crisis, the 2020 Beirut port explosion, and mass migration as ecological disaster. Rather than war, conflict, or sectarian belonging, the texts assert that it is ecological degradation that is a threat to Lebanon. Drawing on environmentalism, eco-materialism, and waste studies, I analyze how waste in the texts flouts the trope of mountain romanticism that makes up the myth of Lebanese identity, putting into question the safety and sanctity of the home and thereby of the nation. I thus argue that, by foregrounding garbage and environmental degradation, they contest dominant discourses on Lebanese identity

Archaeology · CONTEST · Criminalization · Criminology · Environmentalism · Garbage · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Romanticism · Sociology · Geographies of human-animal interactions · History · Law · Middle East Politics and Society · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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