Beirut as a palimpsest: Conflicting present pasts, materiality and interpretation

What is it about?

Through the study of Beirut as a palimpsest, the paper aims to shed light on the interactions between unseen factors and driving forces that, at the urban and archaeological levels, produced the palimpsestic nature of this city. It tackles the palimpsest metaphor at the second level, thus shifting focus from the metaphor itself to the essential paradigms lying behind the observation and interpretation of past materiality, paying close attention to their ontological and epistemological dimensions. In addition, it attempts to understand the interplay of all these different factors within the social realm to produce subjective meanings through the various narratives proposed by different actors. For this purpose, three case studies from Beirut’s post-war reconstruction experience are examined and discussed. Through these case studies, an attempt to bring together both theoretical and more tangible aspects of the palimpsest metaphor is made by bridging the social facts to the social actions in a real-world scenario.

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Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The paper debates the uses and abuses of the archaeological record in the creation of biased heritage and historical narratives. It also tackles the various aspects of religious conflicts as well as religious identity and pluralism. It critically confronts conflict archaeology, ideology, and historiography within the framework of the politics of the present past within historic cities as well as the problems of ethnicity and identity politics.