Beirut's Suspended Now: Imaginaries of a Precarious City
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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Beirut's suspended now: Imaginaries of a precarious city Naeff, J.A. Publication date 2016 Document Version Final published version License Other Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Naeff, J. A. (2016). Beirut's suspended now: Imaginaries of a precarious city. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:07 Oct 2021 BEIRUT’S SUSPENDED NOW IMAGINARIES OF A PRECARIOUS CITY Judith Naeff II BEIRUT’S SUSPENDED NOW: IMAGINARIES OF A PRECARIOUS CITY ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Prof. dr. ir. K.I.J. Maex ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula op 7 oktober 2016 door Judith Anne Naeff geboren te Amsterdam. III Promotiecommissie Promotors: Prof. dr. C.P. Lindner Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. R.L.A. van Leeuwen Universiteit van Amsterdam Overige leden: Prof. dr. L.A. Bialasiewicz Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. S. Haugbolle Roskilde University Prof. dr. M.M. Kraidy Annenberg School for Communication Prof. dr. C.M.K.E. Lerm-Hayes Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. E. Peeren Universiteit van Amsterdam Faculteit: Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen © 2016, Judith Naeff This research project was made possible by the generous support I received as a PhD fellow of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA). IV To my parents, who taught me that it takes an effort to savour life and taught me to savour the effort. V VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements IX Note on Transliteration XI List of Figures XII Introduction 1 Cultural Objects 4 Urban Imaginaries 8 Chronotopes 11 Constructing Identity in Lebanon: Sectarianism 14 Constructing Identity in Lebanon: Territory and Geopolitics 19 A History of Beirut’s Redevelopment Projects 24 Post-Civil-War Reconstruction: BCD 27 Imaginaries of a Precarious City 32 1. Beirut’s Suspended Now 36 Unresolvedness 40 Volatility 46 Mythical Rebirth, Psychological Healing and Apocalypse 54 The Time-Space of Urban Renewal 62 Precariousness 67 Conclusion 74 2. The Disposable City 78 Waste: A Relational Attribute 80 Ruins: From Memory to Precarity 84 Debris: The Indeterminate Overturn 97 Dumpsites: Leakage and Transgression 106 Squander: Violent Desire and Solace 115 Conclusion 127 VII 3. Surface City 129 Alienation, Spectacle and Contemporary Urban Space 130 Mirrors: Shattered Reflections 135 Façades: Appearance and Disguise 147 Tabula Rasa: the Post-Catastrophic Surface 158 Billboards: Exclusion and Reappropriation 167 Conclusion 180 4. Excavation and Mourning 186 Latency 188 Construction Site Digging 196 Underground Journeys 201 Dead Bodies 207 Martyrs 215 Excavation and Mourning 223 Conclusion 231 Conclusion: Ethics in the Precarious City (The Case of You Stink) 233 Bibliography 244 List of Cultural Objects 262 English Summary 267 Nederlandse Samenvatting 269 VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without the help, support and inspiration of many. I want to thank Ada, and Marinus in loving memory, to both of whom this thesis is dedicated, for fostering my love for learning and critical thinking. I am greatly indebted to my supervisors. My promoter Christoph Lindner’s pragmatism and clarity have been indispensable in structuring my associative thinking by forcing me to keep up a productive writing rhythm. In addition, he has created ample opportunities and stimuli for me to gain invaluable experience alongside writing my thesis. My co-promoter Richard van Leeuwen has always insisted on more durable reading and reflection. I am grateful for our conversations, which without exception open up new lines of thought. Both were always involved, dedicated and interested, and have been better supervisors than I could have wished for. I want to thank the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis for their trust and generous support in accepting me for a fully funded fellowship. The ASCA PhD community – Pedram, Miriam, Niall, Simon, Flora, Blandine, Tijmen, Marie, Enis, Uzma, Lara and many others, excellently coordinated and supported by Eloe Kingma and Jantine van Gogh – has provided a generous and stimulating international working environment as well as diversion and friendship. I am particularly thankful to Miriam Meissner and Pedram Dibazar. Together with Christoph, we have made the Cities Project into an inspiring intellectual space and I am very proud to have been part of it. I also want to thank Tijmen Klous for his critical proofreading of the manuscript. Over the years, the various intellectual encounters across disciplinary and national borders have greatly contributed to this project. In particular, I would like to thank Lina Majdalanie for teaching the unforgettable class that inspired me to embark on this research project; Maher Jarrar for his generosity in introducing me to contemporary Lebanese literature; Robbert Woltering for involving me in the initiation of the Amsterdam Centre for Middle Eastern Studies; Ammeke Kateman for the delightful experience of organizing a symposium at the Orient Institut Beirut and for being a great friend and colleague; Claire Launchbury and Nayla Tamraz for creating excellent opportunities to exchange and re-evaluate my thinking about contemporary Lebanese cultural production; Rana Issa and Einar Wigen for the intellectual generosity and warm hospitality at their inspiring workshop and book project, which stand as an IX example to follow; Djûke Poppinga for repeatedly rekindling my love of literature and language; Marwan Kraidy, whose rare combination of sparkling intellectual enthusiasm, generosity and modesty I have had the pleasure of encountering on multiple occasions; and the many artists and authors who were kind enough to discuss their work with me. I am eternally grateful to Fien and Maloe, whose cheerful presence at home counterbalanced the seriousness of my research. They have always noisily reminded me of what really matters in life, and have made sure that I was perfectly capable of not thinking of work for much of these four years. Most of all, Mark, I cannot express the extent of my gratitude for always being able to count on your rock solid support. Last but not least, I want to thank Beirut and the people who make the city such a vibrant and stimulating place despite its many problems. In 2008, I experienced four months of inspiring studies, existential unsettlement and a liberating frenzy in Beirut, and my multiple visits since then have always filled me with a deep affection for the city. Parts of this thesis have been published in the article “Absence in the Mirror: Beirut’s Urban Identity in the Aftermath of Civil War” (2014), and in the book chapters “Disposable Architecture - Reinterpreting Ruins in the Age of Globalization: the Case of Beirut” (2016a) and “Dead Bodies and the Precarious Present in Contemporary Beirut” (2016b). X NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION The thesis refers to Arabic proper names, titles of novels, films and art works, and names of institutions with the transliteration that has been commonly used in English publications and other media. If no English translation is available or multiple transliterations are in circulation, transcription will be used according to the scheme below, with the English translation added between brackets or in the text. The same goes for the occasional Arabic terminology. All translations are mine unless stated otherwise. ط ṭ ء ’ ظ ẓ ب b ع ‘ ت t غ ġ ث ṯ ف f ج j ق q ح ḥ ك k خ ḵ ل l د d م m ذ ḏ ن n ر r و w ز z ه h س s ي y ش š ة ah/at ص ṣ ض ḍ Long vowels will be marked by a “ ̄ ”. XI LIST OF FIGURES Cover Part of the series À ciel ouvert (Maroun, 2010-2011) 0.1 Place de l’Étoile (photo: Solidere website) 1.1 The Hariri shrine (photo: Judith Naeff, 2014) 1.2 The truth countdown (© Matthew Cassel, 2007) 1.3 Balançoires (Hatoum, 2010) 1.4 Once a Shiny Morning Puddle (Cherri, 2005) 1.5a Fossils (Tabet, 2006) 1.5b Fossils (Tabet, 2008) 1.6 Two film stills from The Last Man (Salhab, 2006) 1.7 Publication by Angus Gavin, Solidere’s head of development (1996) 1.8 Beirut advertorial (Ministry of Tourism, 2006) 2.1 The Murr tower (photo: Judith Naeff, 2011) 2.2 China (Battle of the Hotels) (Yassin, 2012) 2.3 Holiday Inn (Baalbaki, 2011) 2.4. Crab Invasion. Part of the series d-scape (Daou, 2013). 2.5 The dome, in Lettre à la mère (Kerbaj, 2013) 2.6 Trucks transporting rubble of the 2006 bombardments of Dahiyeh to the Ouzai landfill (© Dimitri Messinis/Associated Press) 2.7 1989 (Tabet, 1989-2012) 2.8 Architecture Lessons (Tabet, 2012) 2.9 Aerial view of the Normandy Bay (Sadek and El-Fadel, 2000) 2.10 From Bye Bye Babylon (Lamia Ziadé, 2011) 3.1 Beirut Exhibition Center (© L.E.F.T. architecture) 3.3 The Mirror Tower (© LAN architects) 3.3 Façade in Beirut (photo: Clara Rivas Alonso, Flickr) 3.4 Circle of Confusion (Hadjithomas and Joreige, 1997) 3.5 Sandstone façades in BCD (photo: Solidere website) 3.6 The empty souks (photo: Judith Naeff, 2011) 3.7 Film still from Terra Incognita (Salhab, 2003) 3.8 Exhibition view Place at Last (Sadek, 2010; photo: Beirut Exhibition Center website) XII 3.9 “Stop Solidere” banner on the façade of the Hotel St.