ISSN 2084–1418
The paper edition of the Anthropology of History Yearbook is the definitive version
2016, No. (9), Cultural Heritage
Katarzyna Puzon
‘This sea is mine’: urban heritage in Beirut
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Keywords: heritage, city, temporality, Beirut, Lebanon
Abstract: Over the past 20 years, Beirut has become a laboratory for post-war reconstruction. Certain parts of the city give the impression of an eternal construction site of a large-scale urban renewal experiment. The socio-spatial transformations attracted mixed reactions, and subsequently many concerns were voiced by residents, activists, and urban planners; some of them even argued that heritage had fallen victim to real estate development. This criticism, however, can also be viewed in terms of an aspiration for a better future, especially given that the idea of heritage has recently begun to gradually shift from a matter of "family legacy" to its understanding as a more collective phenomenon. This paper seeks to examine discourses and practices of urban heritage in post-war Beirut. More specifically, it explores how heritage discourses and practices are enacted by local actors, in particular the fishermen of al-Daliyeh and the Dictaphone Group. Drawing on Sharon Macdonald's notion of "past presencing", I focus on urban and socio-spatial dimensions of heritage-making in the Lebanese capital.
About Author:
KATARZYNA PUZON - social anthropologist, postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Anthropological Research on Museums and Heritage (CARMaH) of the Humboldt University in Berlin. E-mail: katarzyna.puzon[at]hu-berlin.de.
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