8vo. viii, [4], 340 pp., of German text including sixteen pages summary in English & Arabic, publisher’s original wrappers, biblio, index, Beiruter Texte Und Studien, Band 90, Ergon Verlag Wurzurg, Beirut, first edition, 2002.

Synopsis

This study investigates the development of ‘Lebanese historigraphy’ from the middle of the 19th century until the present. It is concerned with historical works on Lebanon written by native authors who lived or are living in Lebanon. The study seeks to examine the interdependece of histirography and ideology on the one hand and of history and identity on the other. The material studied includes scholarly publications and popularised works from the last 150 years, of which a considerable part is confessional writing of members of the different communities (Maronites, Druzes, Sunnis, Shi’is etc.).
The main part of the study, is organised in five chapters dealing with:
1- Non-prefessional historians of late Ottoman time (1860-1918)
2- The beginnings of professional historiography under the Mandate (1920-1943)
3- The developments since independence until the outbreak of the civil war (1943-1975)
4- Historiography during the civil war (1975-1990)
5- Post- war developments and alternative ways for a new structuring of Lebanese historical research and culture.