Beyrouth avant Beyrouth : historiographies contemporaines d’une « ville arabe ottomane » (xvie-xviiie siècles)

The Beirut historiographies that emerged from the devastation of the Lebanese War (1975-1990), have played a central role in the revaluation of an Ottoman heritage long overshadowed by Lebanese historians focused on the spectacular modernization of the city in the 19th century. Pre-modern Beirut (in the 16th-18th centuries) was of only minor interest to urban historians compared to other cities along the Syrian coast. Two historians whose work forms the basis of this article, have nevertheless endeavoured to deconstruct Beirut’s symbolic attachment to nearby Mount Lebanon, the founding site of Lebanese nationalist historiography, restoring the city to the general historical framework of the Arab provinces in the period preceding the Tanzimât. For these historians, Beirut is indeed an Ottoman Arab city, even if the authors differ both in their conceptions of “Arabness” and “Ottomanity”. More likely such differences are a reflection of their respective professional trajectories during and after the war, but also the differential effects of their respective positioning in the academic field.