Historic Preservation, Discourses of Modernity, and Lived
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Copyright by Faedah Maria Totah 2006 The Dissertation Committee for Faedah Maria Totah Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: HISTORIC PRESERVATION, DISCOURSES OF MODERNITY, AND LIVED EXPERIENCES IN THE OLD CITY OF DAMASCUS, SYRIA Committee: Richard Flores, Supervisor Deborah Kapchan, Co-Supervisor Kamran Ali John Hartigan, Jr. Christopher Long HISTORIC PRESERVATION, DISCOURSES OF MODERNITY, AND LIVED EXPERIENCES IN THE OLD CITY OF DAMASCUS, SYRIA by Faedah Maria Totah, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2006 Dedication To my parents: Musa Ibrahim Totah (1939-1994) Suad Sahouria Totah (1937-2003) Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank my committee members Richard Flores, Deborah Kapchan, Kamran Ali, John Hartigan, Jr., and Christopher Long who at different times and in various ways guided me through the process of graduate school and dissertation writing. Funds for this research were made possible by the IIE Fulbright Award (2001- 2002) and the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award (2003-2004). I would like to thank Mary Alice Davila who coordinated the Fulbright-Hays Award at The University of Texas at Austin. In Syria I was fortunate to meet wonderful and generous people who helped in many ways, not only in making this research possible but in guiding me through the intricacies of life there. I especially want to mention Dr. Kharieh Kasmieh, Sarab Atassi, Jens Damborg, Sa’d Hamoudeh, AbduRaouf Adawan, Sahar Hassibi, Stephanie Kock, Jacques Montlucon, Simone Ricci, Samer Kozah, Ivy Po, and Nell Gabiam. Special mention should go to the staff at IFEAD, especially the librarians. Fatie Darwish was one of my first tour guides of the Old City and became a dear friend. I learned much from her about Damascus but most importantly how to have an endless enthusiasm for life. In Austin BJ and Bob Fernea, though both had retired when I entered the University of Texas at Austin, were always supportive of my project. v Jonathan Shannon has shown interest in my work on Syria from the beginning and has provided invaluable advice and words of encouragement throughout the years. My writing companions Beth Bruinsma, Jacqueline Polvora, Virginia Raymond, Laura Padilla, Christina Salinas, and Jennifer Najera, deserve special mention for reading various parts of this dissertation and offering much needed comments and suggestions for revision. Special thanks to Leighton C. Peterson especially for helping me through the last few months of dissertation writing, down to the final hours, and for keeping me on track. Ferdous Ahmed, though thousand of miles away, always reminded me of life beyond the dissertation. I would also like to acknowledge my brothers Ibrahim, Faris and sister Rheem and sister-in-law Rima for their loving support. My “gal pals” Elyse Semerdjian, Shareah Talghani, Shinjinee Chattopadhyay, Lamia Mandanat, Ines Meneses, and Gugu Totah always believed in me and helped in more ways than I can thank them. They were never more than a phone call or email away with words of encouragement and support. Elyse, Lamia, and Shareah showed great willingness when they were coerced into being research assistants in Syria. My parents Musa Ibrahim Totah and Suad Sahouria Totah have both passed away; my father long before I contemplated graduate school and my mother during my course work. Nonetheless, I always felt their presence over the years especially in Syria and when writing. To them I dedicate this dissertation. vi HISTORIC PRESERVATION, DISCOURSES OF MODERNITY, AND LIVED EXPERIENCES IN THE OLD CITY OF DAMASCUS, SYRIA Publication No._____________ Faedah Maria Totah, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2006 Supervisors: Richard Flores and Deborah Kapchan This dissertation explores the ways in which the historic preservation of the Old City of Damascus affects the social use of space. By critically examining the discourses of tradition and modernity surrounding the renovation of the courtyard houses and the gentrification of the neighborhoods, I investigate the ways in which social actors such as residents and investors are actively engaged in negotiating and redefining what it means to be “modern” in contemporary Syria. I define these social actors in terms of “locals” and “cosmopolitans” based on the various ways they have of relating to the Old City; locals as community and cosmopolitans as heritage site. I approach the changes in the Old City within the broader issues of globalization and examine how the fast pace of change brought about by global flows and exchanges transforms historic cities and old vii neighborhoods in the name of modernization. Amidst these changes residents negotiate a sense of place and connectedness. I argue the transformations in the Old City of Damascus currently taking place reflect changes that have occurred during the Ottoman and colonial period. I illustrate how history and memory take on different meanings for locals and cosmopolitans. Tabaqāt (layers) emerges from my work as the analytical framework when exploring the history, social actors, historic preservation, as well as discourses surrounding the Old City. Any understanding of the current situation in Damascus would be incomplete without historical contextualization; contemporary globalization, in turn, has to be understood within this context. In this work I reposition the Old City within the context of its history, geography, and the social actors. I illustrate how historically the Old City has emerged as a distinct urban space, geographically and conceptually, in present day Damascus. The Old City is becoming a site of multilayered discourses— tabaq āt —of local experience. This includes a discussion of how modernization and preservation are interconnected processes and discourses readily apparent in this postcolonial, urban space. Furthermore, people’s spatial practices and lived experiences both inform and transform their own interpretations of what it means to be “modern” and Syrian. viii Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................................................................... xii Transliteration of Arabic Terms.......................................................................................xiii Chapter One: Seven Heavens, Seven Rivers, Seven Layers............................................... 1 Tabaqāt ........................................................................................................................... 6 Historical Context........................................................................................................... 9 Theoretical Background................................................................................................ 12 Historic Cities ............................................................................................................... 16 Cities in the Middle East............................................................................................... 17 Field Sites in the Hārah................................................................................................ 20 Methodology................................................................................................................. 27 Overview....................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter Two: “With You Begins and Ends Creation:” the Making of the Old City of Damascus .......................................................................................................................... 34 A Tour of Tabaqāt ........................................................................................................ 35 Early History................................................................................................................. 41 Ottomans and the First Stirrings of Modernity............................................................. 46 Ottoman Modern........................................................................................................... 50 French Colonization...................................................................................................... 56 Syrian Modern .............................................................................................................. 62 Wajh Hadarī ................................................................................................................. 66 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 69 Chapter Three: “Nothing has Changed:” Continuity of Place.......................................... 72 “Nothing Has Changed” ............................................................................................... 74 Spatial Practices and Continuity................................................................................... 79 Extension of the House................................................................................................. 82 The Baker...................................................................................................................... 85 ix Al-Hourani the Grocer.................................................................................................. 88 Maktab .........................................................................................................................