ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between architecture and fear in zones of conflict where monuments and places of worship can serve as markings of presence, symptoms of historical trauma, and embodiments of difference from ‘others’. It focuses on the recent architectural battle to dominate Beirut’s skyline (and the image/identity of the Lebanese Republic) held between the Maronite Christians (through St. George’s Western-style cathedral) and the Sunni Muslims (through the Ottoman-style Al-Amin mosque). The author argues that these monuments represent architectural arms of a historical sectarian strife and a centennial ideological struggle regarding the ‘imagined’ identity of Lebanese nation, reflecting nostalgias for diverse past Golden Ages and interrelated historical traumas of persecution. The author also highlights the palimpsest nature of these sanctuary landmarks which, instead of serving as memento mori that stress the transient nature of power, act as vehicles of memorial-genocides that block access to material heritage that shapes the collective memory and official narrative of the modern nation-state. In conclusion, the chapter considers whether these same controversial architectural sites can be seen as symbols of coexistence in a country where multiculturalism is not ceremonial but very much real, with serious socio-political implications.
