Scribd
Upload
42 views

Research Report From The Levant Region 2007

This document provides a summary of a research report on decolonizing the Middle East through an examination of culture and politics in Syria and Lebanon on the eve of independence from 1936-1946. The researcher traveled to Syria and Lebanon to gather archival materials from government, private, French, British, American, and Arabic sources. Key findings included that cultural institutions like education, publishing, cinema, and scouting were important weapons for political influence and defining allegiances during this contested period. The diverse source base helped fill gaps in understanding the Syrian education system, local scouting movements, civic organizations in Beirut, and memories from former scouts.

Uploaded by

marziehmarzieh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
42 views

Research Report From The Levant Region 2007

This document provides a summary of a research report on decolonizing the Middle East through an examination of culture and politics in Syria and Lebanon on the eve of independence from 1936-1946. The researcher traveled to Syria and Lebanon to gather archival materials from government, private, French, British, American, and Arabic sources. Key findings included that cultural institutions like education, publishing, cinema, and scouting were important weapons for political influence and defining allegiances during this contested period. The diverse source base helped fill gaps in understanding the Syrian education system, local scouting movements, civic organizations in Beirut, and memories from former scouts.

Uploaded by

marziehmarzieh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

CBRL Bulletin 2007 VOL 2 97

Research Report from the Levant Region


Decolonizing the Middle East: Culture and The significance of this book lies not only in the fact
Politics in Syria and Lebanon on the Eve of that there is insufficient work on cultural institutions
Independence in the Middle East for this time period, but also
Jennifer M. Dueck (University of Oxford); because it reveals culture as one of the key weapons
e-mail: [email protected] for influence in a highly-contested region. Although
there are many good political histories of Syria and
In the present state of international affairs, the phrase Lebanon at this time, none addresses the cultural
‘clash of civilizations’ trips all too glibly off the aspect of politics in any depth. This gap in the
tongues of commentators describing relations historical literature on the Mandates is all the more
between the West and the Middle East. In the mid- striking as culture was crucial both to French and
1990s, Samuel Huntington stated that the world’s Arab nationalist self-promotion in the Levant,
current woes are the result of irreconcilable encompassing not only the press and the radio, but
differences between ‘civilizations’, defined chiefly by also the complex and multi-faceted literary,
cultural affiliation. He was not the first to emphasize cinematic and educational enterprises cited above.
the importance of culture in shaping political, These were not unilateral initiatives projecting
military and economic policy. Other prominent highly-controlled messages from ruling authorities
scholars such as the rival pair Edward Said and onto indigenous masses; rather they depended on
Bernard Lewis both pay homage to culture as a key the cooperation of a plethora of non-governmental
determinant in the balance of power governing inter- and indigenous participants who had their own
national relations. Although such arguments are independent agendas. In the religiously diverse
usually too reductionist, supposing a confrontation Levant, where the official French administration
between homogenous Eastern and Western blocks, only dated back to the end of the First World War,
there is merit in the importance they place on culture competition and negotiation for power over cultural
in molding the practice of power. institutions played a surprisingly prominent role in
defining political allegiances.
The history of Western imperialism in the Middle East
is one window through which to view the role of The source base for this work includes French,
culture in politics. My research focuses on national British, American and Arabic material from
and international power struggles arising from the government and private collections, as well as oral
implementation of cultural policy in the French testimonies from elderly members of the Levantine
Mandate territories of Syria and Lebanon from 1936 to political and religious elites. The archival collections
1946. With the help of a CBRL Travel Grant, I travelled include documents from various Foreign and Defense
to Syria and Lebanon in spring 2006 in order to gather Ministries, as well as those of Jewish, Christian, Druze
the archival material necessary to complete my book, and Sunni philanthropic associations. During my
entitled Decolonizing the Middle East: Culture and research trip, I was able to fill four main gaps in my
Politics in Syria and Lebanon on the Eve of Independence source base. The first two concern the Syrian state
(forthcoming Oxford University Press/British education system and local scout movement. At the
Academy). The book examines the competition Centre for Historical Documentation in Damascus
between French, indigenous and other Western and the Institut du Proche Orient in Damascus, I
leaders from state and private milieus for the control found both useful material and lively fellow-
of specific cultural enterprises such as education, researchers. My experience in Lebanon was equally
publishing, cinema and the scout movement. 1936 useful, if more colourful. The American University of
saw the signature of the first Franco-Syrian and Beirut archives contain fascinating documentation not
Franco-Lebanese treaties for independence, which only on the University, but also on society and politics
makes it a compelling starting point; 1946 witnessed in Beirut at the time. I was particularly interested by
the long-awaited departure of the French troops and the files pertaining to the Civic Welfare League, which
with them the last structures of imperial rule. The was founded by the university in the 1930s in order to
chosen time period has allowed me to assess how the improve rural and urban living standards through
exploitation of culture for political purposes changed student voluntarism. In addition to working at the
in response to war- and peace-time events, including AUB, I visited the Association of Muslim Scouts and
the negotiation of the Franco-Lebanese and Franco- the Scouts du Liban, whose leaders helped me track
Syrian treaties for independence in 1936, Germany’s down old scout journals and former scouts with
occupation of France in 1940, the British-Free French memories from the 1940s. Finally, the bite-size
invasion of Syria and Lebanon in 1941, and the estab- Lazarist archive in Antoura provided a few morsels to
lishment of independent Lebanese and Syrian complement the extensive Jesuit documentation
governments in 1943 and 1945 respectively. which I have already collected.

You might also like