Nuits de Beyrouth

This geography of nightlife in Beirut goes beyond the cliché of the endless and wild nights of the Lebanese city, to study spaces of entertainment, practices of actors producing and attending this world on a daily basis, and the associated representations. In this book, Marie Bonte crosses issues related to the playful uses of the night with questions raised by the complex legacies of conflict, especially the Lebanese Civil War. In doing so, she shows how practices related to alcohol, flirting, and dancing are ways of making and reclaiming urban space, as well as expressing a potential cohabitation that transcends the assigned identities materialized by the war. The nocturnal spaces create urban scenes that appear during the Mandate period and develop according to the spatial changes caused by the war and the reconstruction. The venues studied are clustered in tightly packed neighborhoods that show patterns of quick emergence and decline, and enable the individuals who patronize them to express and expose themselves. They also provide a range of political uses that reflect the claims of Beirut's youth facing a restless present and an uncertain future. This book takes a close look at the issues of social, cultural and political geography, and incorporates territorial marketing considerations, as well as urban issues in the Middle East and post-conflict management. It will be of interest to students, teachers and researchers who are engaged in a broad thinking on urban and post-conflict spaces, on the transformations at work in Arab societies, and on youthful citadinities that constantly and loudly reimagine interaction and life in the city.