Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Advisor(s)

Dr. Kara Van Cleaf

Second Advisor

Kate Wilson, Ph.D.

Abstract

2020s Lebanon is wrought by a banking crisis, a refugee crisis, infrastructural issues, border conflict, and an unstable government—yet its nightlife scene is thriving. This has been the case since the onset of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) when discotheques and nightclubs emerged in the region despite the decimated infrastructure and beleaguered nation. Although that war period has drawn considerable scholarly attention, there is limited scholarship on the persistence of the clubbing scene during the nation’s troubles of the 2020s. This project studies the vibrant Lebanese nightlife scene in contrast with the various crises the country is experiencing. Rendering my past experience into participant observation captures the qualities of club spaces and club-goers' behavior, while online comments shed light on how Lebanese individuals make sense of club dancing during national troubles—whether they endorse it or criticize the practice. I adapt ethnographic methods to examine nightclubs at two levels: in the actual space of six nightclubs, based on my recollection of club-going over two years, and in the digital space of discourse about clubs gathered from posts on Instagram shared during these same two years. The case study illuminates two understandings of the Lebanese nightlife scene concerning the nation: that it contributes to the socioeconomic problems that prevail, and that it creates a sense of national identity and belonging that alleviates the symptoms of the crisis.

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