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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Department of Modern Languages The construction of identity and community – Performing ethnicity: Who are the Colombian-Lebanese? by Esteban Devis-Amaya Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2014 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Department of Modern Languages Doctor of Philosophy THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY – PERFORMING ETHNICITY: WHO ARE THE COLOMBIAN- LEBANESE? by Esteban Devis-Amaya The aim of this thesis is to investigate the Colombian-Lebanese community in Bogota, and specifically the identities of a particular group of Colombian-Lebanese. I explore the role of ethnicity in the construction of their identities, through the concepts of space, performance and community. The Colombian-Lebanese community has a particular position within Bogota society as part of Bogota’s elite. This privileged position means the Colombian-Lebanese community is a confident group that does not have to endure the negative aspects of ethnic labelling that other less privileged communities may have to sustain. Most of the Colombian- Lebanese participants in this study have been successfully upwardly socially mobile whilst keeping a connection with their ethnic community. At the same time, less upwardly mobile descendants of Lebanese immigrants are more likely to completely assimilate into Colombian society, or if they are recent Muslim immigrants, maintain their religious identity but their ethnic identity is likely to gradually dilute. By adopting an ethnographic approach, with an emphasis on interviews and participant observation, I focus on the Colombian-Lebanese organisations that work within this ethnic community, including a social club, a Maronite parish, a charitable organisation, and a cultural association. I analyse a number of activities and events organised by the Colombian-Lebanese, observing the locations where these take place, their participation in the events, as well as how identity is performed within them. There have been few studies of the Colombian-Lebanese in Colombia, most of those focussing on the history of migration and settlement. This thesis aims to address this by adding a contemporary view of the Colombian-Lebanese in Bogota. Moreover, it contributes to the growing literature on migrant communities investigating whether upward mobility is compatible with ethnic identification. I argue that social status is as important to Colombian- Lebanese identity as ethnicity, and that the two combine in order to belong to the organisations that work within the community. The social positioning of the Colombian- Lebanese in Bogota’s society positively influences their relationship with their ethnic identity, which they can choose deliberately when and where to perform. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Contents ii List of figures viii Declaration of authorship ix Acknowledgements x CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Selection of Terms 5 1.2. Chapter Outline 10 CHAPTER TWO RESEARCHING THE COLOMBIAN-LEBANESE 2.1. Introduction 13 2.2. Data Collection Methods 13 2.3. Colombian-Lebanese organisations 2.3.1. The Club Colombo-Libanés 18 2.3.2. The Colombian-Lebanese Ladies Association 22 2.3.3. The World Lebanese Cultural Union – Colombia Chapter 24 2.3.4. The Maronite Parish 25 2.3.5. Other Colombian-Lebanese organisations 26 2.3.6. Muslim Organisations 27 2.4. Finding the Colombian-Lebanese not active within The organisations 29 2.4.1. Muslim Colombian-Lebanese 30 2.4.2. Invisible non-participant Colombian-Lebanese 32 2.5. Positioning within my research 35 2.6. Ethical and methodological considerations 39 ii CHAPTER THREE LEBANESE MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION IN COLOMBIA 3.1. Introduction 45 3.2. Emigration from Lebanon 46 3.2.1. Violence and repression 47 3.2.2. Other factors 49 3.3. Migrating to Colombia 50 3.3.1. Family and networks 53 3.4. Size of migration 55 3.4.1. Settlement 60 3.5. Social mobility and integration 63 3.5.1. From peddlers… 64 3.5.2. …to Industrialists 67 3.5.3. Education 70 3.6. Marriage 72 3.6.1. Arranged marriages 75 3.6.2. The impact of exogamy 78 3.7. The Colombian-Lebanese in politics 79 3.8. Decline of migration 82 3.9. Summary 88 CHAPTER FOUR THE COLOMBIAN-LEBANESE COLONIA IN BOGOTA 4.1. Introduction 89 4.2. The Colombian-Lebanese Colonia in Bogota 90 4.3. Nation Building in Colombia 91 4.3.1. Identity in the law 94 4.3.2. Identity through patriotism 96 4.3.3. The influence of Lebanese events in Colombian-Lebanese identity 98 4.4. Contemporary Colombian society and the iii Colombian-Lebanese 100 4.4.1. The assimilation of the Lebanese into Colombian society 101 4.4.2. Racial discrimination 106 4.4.3. Socio-economic status 111 4.4.4. Religion 117 4.5. Generations and migration waves 123 4.5.1. Generations and Lebanese identity 125 4.5.2. The current impact of transnationalism 126 4.5.3. Elite ‘foreign citizens’ as a focus for research 129 4.6. Summary 130 CHAPTER FIVE CONSTRUCTING IDENTITY AND PERFORMING ETHNICITY: THE COLOMBIAN-LEBANESE EXPERIENCE 5.1. Introduction 133 5.2. Identity 133 5.2.1. Multiple identities 135 5.2.2. The construction of identity 139 5.2.3. The visibility/invisibility of Colombian-Lebanese ethnicity 142 5.3. Space 5.3.1. Space and identity 144 5.3.2. Space and commonality 146 5.3.3. Space and visibility/invisibility 148 5.4. Performance 5.4.1. The significance of performance 149 5.4.2. The construction of community through performance 152 5.4.3. Tradition and memory 154 5.5. Community 5.5.1. Community and belonging 156 5.5.2. Community boundaries 159 5.6. Summary 162 iv CHAPTER SIX BELONGING TO THE COLONIA THROUGH SOCIAL AND ETHNIC SPACES 6.1. Introduction 163 6.2. The Club Colombo-Libanés en Bogota 164 6.2.1. The Colombian-Lebanese social clubs: ethnicity, size and elitism 168 6.3. Social Networks 176 6.3.1. Maintaining social-status 181 6.3.2. Family connections 185 6.4. Belonging to the Colonia 189 6.4.1. The promotion of ethnic identity 192 6.4.2. A social and an ethnic space 198 6.4.3. The (lack of) Muslim participation 204 6.5. Performance of identity 209 6.6. Summary 215 CHAPTER SEVEN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHNIC IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AND RELIGION 7.1. Introduction 217 7.2. The development of the Maronite Parish and the Muslim mosques in Bogota 220 7.3. The appeal of the Maronite Parish 223 7.3.1. The Maronite ceremony in Bogota 225 7.3.2. Combining ethnicity and religiosity in religious spaces 228 7.4. The positioning of the religious institutions in Bogota’s society 233 7.4.1. The Maronite Parish 233 7.4.2. The mosques 237 7.4.3. Discrimination against Muslims 241 v 7.5. The role of the Maronite Parish in constructing Colombian-Lebanese identity 243 7.5.1. Barriers to identity construction 248 7.6. A house for all? 252 7.6.1. Maronite divisions 256 7.6.2. Muslim divisions 259 7.7. Summary 263 CHAPTER EIGHT THE ROLE OF EXTERNAL EVENTS TO THE COLONIA IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF COLOMBIAN-LEBANESE IDENTITY 8.1. Introduction 265 8.2. Political events 8.2.1. The Lebanese Civil War 266 8.2.2. The July War 268 8.3. Re-organisation of ULCM 274 8.3.1. Re-connecting to the Colonia through the ULCM 278 8.3.2. Cultural representations 281 8.3.3. Performance of identity in a Colombian political event 286 8.4. Citizenship and Voting Rights 291 8.5. Internal divisions 298 8.5.1. Political influence on Muslim divisions 307 8.6. Summary 310 CHAPTER NINE CONCLUSION 9.1. Introduction 313 9.2. Answering the thesis’ research questions 313 9.2.1. Ethnicity and social status 314 9.3. Significance of the Study 318 9.4. Limitations of the Study 320 vi 9.5. Future Research 321 Appendix One – Biographies of Participants 323 Appendix Two – Extracts from Interviews 331 Primary Data References 391 Bibliography 401 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE P.1. – Cedar Tree 170 FIGURE P.2. – Parish Flags 228 FIGURE P.3. – Istanbul Mosque 237 FIGURE P.4. – Abu Bakr Mosque, Minaret 239 FIGURE P.5. – Abu Bakr Mosque, Location 241 FIGURE P.6. – ‘Cease Fire’ Badge 270 FIGURE P.7. – ULCM Banner 284 FIGURE P.8. – Peace March ULCM 288 FIGURE P.9. – Peace March, Close-up 289 TABLE T.1 – Estimates of Arab/Lebanese migrants to various countries 57 TABLE T.2. – First Generation Lebanese in Colombia 84 TABLE T.3. – First Generation Lebanese in La Guajira 85 TABLE T.4. – First Generation Lebanese in Bogota 85 TABLE T.5. – First Generation Lebanese in Atlantico 85 viii DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Esteban Devis-Amaya declare that the thesis entitled ‘The construction of identity and community – Performing ethnicity: Who are the Colombian-Lebanese?’ and the work presented in the thesis are both my own, and have been generated by me as the result of my own original research.