ABSTRACT

What is the role of cultural heritage in multi-ethnic societies, where cultural memory is often polarized by antagonistic identity traditions? Is it possible for monuments that are generally considered as a symbol of national unity to become emblems of the conflictual histories still undermining divided societies? Taking as a starting point the cosmopolitanism that blossomed across the Mediterranean in the age of empires, this book addresses the issue of heritage exploring the concepts of memory, culture, monuments and their uses, in different case studies ranging from 19th-century Salonica, Port Said, the Palestinian region under Ottoman rule, Trieste and Rijeka under the Hapsburgs, up to the recent post-war reconstructions of Beirut and Sarajevo.

part I|69 pages

Urban Monuments and Divided Memories from the 19th to 20th Centuries

chapter 1|17 pages

Urban Monuments in Diverse Cities

chapter 2|15 pages

Dividing and Ruling a Mediterranean Port-City

The Many Boundaries Within Late 19th century Port Said

chapter 4|17 pages

Ottoman Banal Cosmopolitanism

Salonica at the End of Ottoman Rule (1908–1912)

part II|38 pages

Uses of the Past on the Scene of Composite Cities

chapter 5|13 pages

Cosmopolitan Practices

Lives, Mercantilism and Nations in the Growth of Multi-Ethnic Trieste (18th–20th Centuries)

chapter 7|12 pages

Remembering Sissi’s Escape

Nostalgia Marketing in the Mediterranean

part III|48 pages

Cultural Heritage in Post-War Scenarios

chapter 8|18 pages

Cosmopolitan Heritage?

Post-War Reconstruction and Urban Imaginaries in Sarajevo and Beirut

chapter 9|12 pages

Symptomatic Architecture

Markings of Presence, Difference, Fear, and Trauma

chapter 10|16 pages

The City [Un]divided

Forms of Urban Organization in Naba’a District – Bourj Hammoud (Beirut)