History, Memory and Historiography: A Study of Sykes-Picot, the Caliphate, and the Memory of Religious Denominations in Leba

Volume 2|Issue 4| |Research Papers

Abstract

History as a science (that is as an academic endeavor based on a method defined by rules) differs from historical memory, especially collective memory based on "recollection". The latter is a process that takes on various images formed over historical time and which is tinged with various emotions, perspectives, and positions, as well as anachronisms which are used (whether consciously or unconsciously, mostly the latter) for identity-based aims or other collective aims. This paper presents three examples of "histories" prevalent in Arab historical discourse: the historical discourse over Sykes-Picot; the historical discourse over the Caliphate and its abolition; and the histories of the various religious confessional groups in Lebanon. The paper studies the process of ideological-political transformation of events, which in some cases results in their mythologization, in prevailing historical discourses.

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