Abstract Faculty of Arts Master’s Programme in Area and Cultural Studies, Middle Eastern Studies Haru Menard Family and nation as thought and lived by young LGBQ+ adults in Lebanon Master’s thesis May 2022 48 pages Keywords: Lebanon, family studies, post-colonialism, LGBTQ Supervisor: Hannu Juusola Abstract: While the idea of the Middle Eastern family is often invoked as an orientalist stereotype, the local everyday family practices are less examined. Similarly, a wealth of literature on Middle Eastern nationalisms and nation-states exists (from ‘women’s’ perspectives and otherwise). Yet ethnographic research on how local people negotiate identity and belonging in their daily interactions vis á vis the state has remained scarce until recently. This empirical research contributes to the growing body of research on contemporary everyday practices of family and kinship in the Middle East. In this thesis I study the Middle Eastern family and nation in Lebanon as conceptualised and practiced by local young adults who identify as LGBQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Queer or other). I focus on the family and nation as historically constructed (tradition vs. present), politically applied (East vs. West) and yet corporeally and socially lived everyday practices. Family as a social category both maintains and has the power to challenge the social order. I approach “family” and “nation” from the vantage point of marginalised LGBQ+ persons in Lebanon, because I argue that they inhabit the double position of being rooted in the local socio-political order, while also resisting and reformulating it from the inside. Guided by postcolonial theory and methodology, my methodological aims are to reflexively explore how researcher positionality informs my research. Theoretically I aim to shed light on the young Lebanese LGBQ+ adults’ ways of negotiating everyday family and national belonging in Lebanon, as well as analyse at how they actively construct their future in Lebanon. My data consists of thirteen ethnographic conversations with Beirutian LGBQ+ young adults. Methodologically, the conversations were informed by post-colonial approaches to knowledge production and researcher positioning, while the data was analysed using a narrative method. In our conversations the participants described their social lives from multiple perspectives, including personal reflections about Lebanese sectarianism, norms and values as well as the recent developments in Lebanese society. They highlighted the need for a more just society that would be freed of sectarian loyalties as a basis for material wellbeing and civil rights. They often positioned themselves in places of in-betweenness, both in terms of personal identity constructions and politically, as this allowed them room to navigate the diverse and ever-changing socio-material circumstances. They creatively and in a multi-sited fashion engaged with the social and material resources available to them in the Lebanese state by refusing to identify with discourses of cultural authenticity as well as those of the “gay international”.

This research forms a discursive analysis of almost two decades of key statements delivered by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of the Lebanese nationalist militia and political party, Hezbollah. The statements, sourced primarily from a translated compilation edited by Nicholas Noe and published by Verso (2007), reflect the continually evolving populist strategies of a party which has, against many odds, gained a large and impressively cross-sectarian support base in Lebanon and the surrounding region. The aim of the study is two-pronged. It hopes to offer an insightful analysis into the pragmatic politicking of a democratically elected, yet demonstrably lethally armed political party which is possessed of the potential to greatly influence peace and conflict in the region. It also seeks to promote an alternative theoretical perspective to research which continually seeks to locate similar such case studies on an ideologically loaded matrix of'terrorism vs. freedom fighter'. The theory outlined in Ernesto Laclau's 'On Populist Reason' (2005) functions as the framework for analysis. This non-pathological theory of populism provides an excellent lens through which to more objectively examine the way in which popular support is mobilized by what may be essentially democratic, yet highly controversial political movements. After analyzing constructions of 'the enemy', 'the people' and the role of the signifier of resistance over three separate chronological time periods, the research concludes that the politicking of Hezbollah has witnessed a significant discursive shift away from the rhetoric of extremism and towards that of political moderation. This analysis is noteworthy at a time when dominant western political discourses proclaim the dangers of openly 'fundamentalist' or extremist discourses as a threat to the ideals of global liberal democracy. It is concluded that political research should not underestimate the intelligence and pragmatism of groups who build, mobilize and maintain their support as powerful, armed and potentially dangerous non-state actors. A theoretical approach which allows for the insightful analysis of discursive phenomena, within the context of important socio-political factors, retains more likelihood of offering genuine insight into the popular political as it relates to a volatile regional and potentially global context.

Memory has become one of the most vibrant areas of research within the field of media studies. Due to the technological advancements of the past two decades, our media consumption has developed globally. Collective memory and media memory scholars argue that our memories are increasingly influenced by media as well as our surrounding social groups. This study focuses on the media memories of the Lebanese diaspora in North America concerning two significant Lebanese political events. The main research questions are: What do the Lebanese living in North America remember about the two events? What is the role of media in the way they remember the events? This thesis also explores two sub-research questions: How do the participants’ social groups influence the way the individuals remember the events? How does their media consumption affect their memories? The data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with participants from two different age groups in the Lebanese diaspora in North America. The data was analyzed with thematic analysis, and the findings showed that participants remembered very specific details about the events from what they remembered seeing on the TV news. There were some noticeable differences between the memories of the two age groups. This could be contributed to the fact that for the younger participants, their families and other social groups affected their memories of the events. This pointed in the direction that their memories were influenced by the traumatic significance of these events for their social groups. There were types of memories evident throughout the analysis, which were categorized under the concepts of postmemory and flashbulb memories. Essentially, these memories also had influences rooted in social groups and/or media sources for the participants.