Post-war Reconstruction, Authenticity and Development of Cultural Heritage in Syria

Soufan, Anas (2018) Post-war Reconstruction, Authenticity and Development of Cultural Heritage in Syria. ICOMOS University Forum, 1 . pp. 1-18. ISSN 2616-6968 [Article]

[img]
Preview
PDF
SOUFAN Anas_ICOMOS_Authenticity_SEPT- Sent to Maureen.pdf
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract (in English)

This paper discusses Arab notions of cultural heritage and authenticity in relation to the post-war reconstruction of historic buildings and sites in Syria. It draws on personal inquiries, archival sources, and on Syrian and Arabic academic literature.

Item Type: Article
Authors:
Authors
Email
Soufan, Anas
UNSPECIFIED
Languages: English
Keywords: war damage; armed conflicts; reconstruction; theory of restoration; theory of conservation; Philosophy of conservation; interpretation; cultural significance; cultural identity; debates; concepts; Cultural policy; International organizations; social aspects; Political aspects; Syria
Subjects: A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 07. History of conservation
A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 09. Philosophy of conservation
A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 12. Theory of conservation
A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 12. Theory of restoration
E.CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION > 07. Management
E.CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION > 09. Social and economic aspects of conservation
Name of monument, town, site, museum: An-nahdah; Bab Touma; al-Hariqah
Volume: 1
Number of Pages: 18
ISSN: 2616-6968
Depositing User: intern icomos
Date Deposited: 18 Sep 2018 09:08
Last Modified: 18 Sep 2018 09:08
References: Arsalan, Shakib., Muhadarat al-majma’ al-‘lmi al-‘arabi – Conferences of the Arab Scientific Academy, Damascus, 1937, p.32-61.

See the Declaration of the foundation of the Syrian State, 1st meeting of the National Council, Damascus, March 7th 1920; the “Mandate Declaration on Syria and Lebanon” in 1920; the “Introduction” of the Syrian Constitution of 1950 and 2012.

Kord ‘Ali, M., Ḫoṭaṭ aš-Šām, al-Taraqqi, Damascus, 1925, Vol. 4, p. 80.

Antonius, G., The Arab awakening: the story of Arab National Movement, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1938, p.93.

Weber, Max, ‘The Social Psychology of the World Religions’, In: From Max Weber, Essays in Sociology’ ed. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1948, esp. pp. 269-70 and 279-84.

Arkoun, Muhammad., Essaie sur la pensée islamique, Maisonneuve & Larose, Paris, 1983, p. 251-281

Reform was explained in Arabic through several ways especially, al-‘iṣlāḥ, see for example: Hourani, A., Arabic thought in the liberal Age, 1798-1939, Cambridge University Press, London, 1983, p. 34-67; or al-‘inqilab, see for example: Michel Aflaq., fi sabiil al-Ba’th, al-kitabat as-siyassiyah al-kamilah, vol.1-vol.2, Bagdad, 1986, p.141-142-

According to Shukri al-Quwwatly, [1898-1967] an important former Syrian president: H. al-Quwatly., Shukri al-Quwatly yukhateb ummatuhu, al-Fujairah, 2001, p.244

According to Anoutn Saadeh, New enlightened society / mujtamaa jadiid nayyer: Saadeh, A., al-mahadarat al-‘ashr , the tenth lectures, 1st Lecture on January 7th 1948, p.21;

For few reformers like Zaki Najib Mahmud, this debate would be focused on one topic: how the society could shape a culture in which the intellectual would melt the transmitted [المنقول] and authentic [الأصيل] in one coherent vision: Najib Mahmud, Z., Renewal of the Arabic Thought, al-Shoroq, Cairo, 9th ed. 1993, p. 6.

Equally, members of the Christian clerical organ affirmed that people were more attached to the religion than to the nation: Al-Mashreq, 1st year, 1898, n° 1, “response of the Père Louis Shaiḫo”, p. 23.

See on this subject: ‘Abad, Abuld-Ghani., Islamic movements in the Arab World - الحركات الإسلامية في الوطن العربي, Center of Arab Union Studies, Beirut, 2012; Islamic political movements and authority in the Arab world : the rise and fall / edited by Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi, Ahmed Rashad El Safty, UAE, 2014.

Poyraz, Serdar., Besir Fuad (1852-1887) and the Introduction of Philosophical Materialism into the Ottoman Intellectuall life”, in: Review of History and Political Science, December 2014, vol.2, No.3&4, p.15.

Saadeh, A., al-mahadarat al-‘ashr , the tenth lectures, 2nd Lecture, January 28th 1948, p.26.

Aflaq, Michel., fi sabiil al-Ba’th, al-kitabat as-siyassiyah al-kamilah, vol.1, Bagdad, 1986, p. 62-64.

Ottomanism is a sociopolitical ideology coming back to the beginning of the 19th century, targeting to create an Ottoman cultural and political personality prevailing the Ottoman empire and enhancing the unity of its provinces.

See on this subject: Weber, Stephan., Damascus, Ottoman Modernity and Urban Transformation 1808-1918, Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, 2009, 2 vol, and, Soufan, Anas., Influences, 2011, 2vol.

See on this subject: Soufan, A., “Ornamentation and polychrome decoration between authenticity and renewal: Damascus, 1864-1963”, Revue de la Méditerranée, Vol.2, p. 35-56. Soufan. A., ‘Historiographical Overview on the Post Conflict Reconstruction in Syria: From the mid‐19th Century to the 2011 Crisis’, WHC, 2016. http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/1286/

See for example the interventions of speakers in the section of Archeology, History and Geography in: Les travaux et vœux du congrès français de la Syrie, January, 3-5, 1919, Marseille, Barlatier, p.10-14.

David, J.-C., Alep et ses territoires : fabrique et politique d'une ville, 1868-2011, 2014, p. 393.

For example, the obvious different reactions towards the destruction that affected Palmyra and other sites in 2016-17

Weber, Max., From Max Weber, Essays in Sociology’ ed. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958, esp. pp. 269-70 and 279-84., 490p.

Ni’mah Yafeth., in: Al-Muqtataf, Part. 1, 1887, p. 12. Asaad Dagher, in: Al-Muqtataf, Part. 2, 1887, p. 77.

Najib Mahmud, Z., Renewal of the Arabic Thought, al-Shoroq, Cairo, 9th ed. 1993, p. 205.

As-Shahbandar, A.-R., Al-ukhuwwah al-arabiyyah - الاخوة العربية – in: Al-Khatib, M., al-Maqalat, Ministry of Culture, Damascus, 1993, p.80.

[أصيل] was a widespread in the field of horses pointing to a great lineage reflected in specific physical characters.

Lisan al-‘arab, Ibn Manthour, Dar al-Maaref, Cairo, 2006, p.89.

A.-R, Ibn Khaldoun, al-Muqadimah, ed. 1991, Algeria, vol.1, p.160.

Al-Bustani, Butrus., Qutr al-Muhit - قطر المحيط, [n.n], 1869, p.32.

See for instance, the writings of the Islamic reformist Muhammad Rashid Rida in his journal al-Manar : ex. Vol.9, 1906.

For instance, the publications of Al-‘Ahd, Al-Fatat or the Young Arab Society.

Al-Bustani, A.-A., Al-Bustan - البستان , linguistic dictionary, American Press, Beirut, 1927, p.45.

Al-Qasatili, No’man., الروضة الغناء في دمشق الفيحاء – Dar al-Raed, Beirut, 1879, p.101.

Aflaq, M., fi sabiil al-Ba’th, al-kitabat as-siyassiyah al-kamilah, vol.1, Bagdad, 1986, p. 84.

Ibid, p. 95.

Mathakarat Akram al-Hourani,

See for example: Journal of the Arabic Scientific Academy, Damascus: Al-Hasani, Jaafar., ‘Ummeyyad Palaces in the Grand Syria, القصور الاموية في البلاد الشامية’, 1942, vol.7, part.5-6, p.228; Dahman, M., Mausoleums and Private Tombes in Islam, الترب والمدافن الخاصة في الاسلام, 1941, vol.16, part.3-4, p.110; Kurd Ali, M., “Al-‘adiliyyah wa-thahiriyyah”, العادلية والظاهرية, 1921, vol.1, part.1, p.39; Zakariyyah, Wasfi., “Historic structures in Grand Syria, الاماكن الاثرية في بلاد الشام”, In: DImashq, vol.6, 1940, p.25.

al-Quwwatly, Halah., Shukri al-Quwwatly discourses with his nation, شكري القوتلي يخاطب امته, al-Fujayrah Library, 2001, p.166.

See As-Shahbandar’s speeches in: Al-Khatib, M., al-Maqalat, Ministry of Culture, Damascus, 1993, p.55, 122, 127, 129, 360, 361,456, 471.

Al-Ḥeṣnī, M.-T., Montaḫabāt al-tawāriḫ li-dimašq, Beyrouth, Dār al-‘Āfāq al-jadīdah, 1927, vol.1, p.302.

Soufan, A., Influences occidentales et traditions régionales, Style syrien des années 1920s-50s, Paris, p. 360-366.

Al-Mashreq, “Nathar fi mahasen halab wa atharaha – Regard on Aleppo beauty and heritage”, 2nd year, January, 1899, n° 1, p. 14.

‘Aẓmah, A.-A., Mirāt al-Šām, tārīḫ dimašḳ wa ahlahā, Damas, Riyad al-Rayyes Books, London, 1987, p.68.

Ibid, p. 67.

Kurd ‘Ali, M., Dimašq, madīnat as-siḥr waš-si’r, Dār al-Fikr, Le Caire, 1944, p.7.

Ibid, p.77.

See for instance: Kord ‘Ali, M., Ḫoṭaṭ aš-Šām , al-Taraqqi, Damascus, 1925, Vol. 4, p. 135-136.

Kurd Ali, M., Al-‘adiliyyah wa-thahiriyyah’, In: Journal of the Arabic Scientific Academy, Damascus, 1921, vol.1, part.1, p.39.

Bahnasi, A., al-fan al-hadith fil bilad al-‘arabiyyah, Dar al-Janoub, Unesco, 1980, p. 8.

Rīḥāwi, A.-Q., Qimama ‘ālamiyyah fi turāṯ al-hadārah al-‘arabiyyah al-islāmiyah, 2000, 1st vol, p.35-46; See also: Rīḥāwi, A.- Q., al-‘Amārah al-‘arabiyyah al-islāmiyah, 1979, p.24-25.

Na’ana, Hamida., “The cultural impact of the left in Syria and Palestine: a personal view”, In: Cosmopolitanism, Identity and Authenticity in the Middle East, Curzon, 1999, p.62.

Aflaq, M., fi sabiil al-Ba’th, al-kitabat as-siyassiyah al-kamilah, vol.1, Bagdad, 1986, p. 84.

Ibid, p. 95.

Ibid, p.62-64.

Mathakarat Akram al-Hourani,

A Dictionary of Classical and Modern Arabic, Librarie du Liban, Beirut, 2006, p.123.

It is the same relevance indicated by Jukka Jokilehto: J, Jokilehto., “Authenticity: a general Framework for the Concept”, In: Nara Conference on Authenticity, Proceedings, ed. Larsen, K.-E., Unesco WHC and others, 1995, p.18.

Al-Azmah, A., al-Turath bayn as-sultan wal tarikh, Heritage between the Sultan and the History, Dar at-tali’ah, Beirut, 1990, p.12

Jokilehto, Jukka., “Considerations on Authenticity and Integrity”, in: Conservation of Cultural Heritage in the Arab Region, ICCROM-ATHAR Press, 2016, p.43.

Bahnasi, ‘A., Jamāliyyat al-fan al-‘arabi, ‘Ālam al-ma’rifah, Kuwait, 1979, p. 180.

Abou Ghazi, B.-D., Mafhum al-Asālah wal mu’āsara fil fununal-tashkiliyyah, paper presented in the Conference of the Arabic Beaux-Art, 1975

Al-Habbabi, M.-A., In: At-turath wa tahadiyyat al-asr fi al-watan alarabi, al-asalah wal-muasarah, Heritage and the Current Challenges in the Arab World, Authenticity and Contemporaneity, Center of Arab Unity Studies, Cairo, 1985, p. 100.

Ibid, p. 183.

Ibid, p. 184.

Al-Azmah, A., al-Turath bayn as-sultan wal tarikh, 1990, p.147

Ibid, p.149.

Semper, Gottfreid, Du style et de l’architecture, tr. 2007, p. 344.

Grabar, Oleg., The Mediation of Ornament, 1992, p. 45.

See for example: Soufan, A., « An overview of cement tile manufacturing and importation in Syria and Lebanon: Damascus-Beirut, 1880s-1940s », ABE Journal [Online], 8 | 2015; Soufan, A., “Ornamentation and polychrome decoration between authenticity and renewal: Damascus, 1864-1963”, Revue de la Méditerranée, Vol.2, p. 35-56.

Cleer, C., “The Evaluation of Authenticity in the Context of the World Heritage Convention”, 1995, p.63

Jokilehto, Jukka., “Considerations on Authenticity and Integrity”, 2016, p.37.

Such as the violent earthquakes of 1138 and 1759.

On the different phases of construction and shifting of the mosque, see for instance: Akili, Talal., The Great Mosque of Damascus from Roman temple to monument of Islam, ARCOD, Damascus, 2009.

Soufan, A., Influences occidentales et traditions régionales, Paris, 2011, p. 155-157

Al-Azmah, A., al-Turath bayn as-sultan wal tarikh, Dar at-tali’ah, Beirut, 1990, p.13

Rowe, P., Sarkis, H., Projecting Beirut, Episodes in the Construction and Reconstruction of a Modern City, Prestel, 1998, p.283

Bahnasi, ‘Afīf., Jamāliyyat al-fan al-‘arabi, ‘Ālam al-ma’rifah, Kuwait, 1979, p. 179

A.-R, Ibn Khaldoun, al-Muqadimah, ed. 1991, Algeria, vol.2, p.361.

Thomson, Robert-Garlan., “Authenticity and the Post-Conflict Reconstruction of Historic Sites”, National Parks Service, https://www.nps.gov/crmjournal/Winter2008/article4.html

Venturi, Robert., “A definition of architecture”, 1984, p. 62.

Bahnasi, ‘Afīf., Jamāliyyat al-fan al-‘arabi, ‘Ālam al-ma’rifah, Kuwait, 1979, p. 182.

Tizini, T., At-turath wa tahadiyyat al-asr fi al-watan alarabi, al-asalah wal-muasarah, 1985, p. 91.

Al-Azmah, A., al-Turath bayn as-sultan wal tarikh, Dar at-tali’ah, Beirut, 1990, p.14.

Fathy, H., in Conservation as Cultural Survival, Proceedings of seminar, Aga Khan Award for Architecture, p.103.

Bahnasi, ‘Afīf., Jamāliyyat al-fan al-‘arabi, ‘Ālam al-ma’rifah, Kuwait, 1979, p. 181.

Jabiri, M.-A., In: At-turath wa tahadiyyat al-asr fi al-watan alarabi, al-asalah wal-muasarah, 1985, p. 33.

Tizini, T., In: At-turath wa tahadiyyat al-asr fi al-watan alarabi, al-asalah wal-muasarah, 1985, p. 86

See on this subject: Soufan, A., Influences occidentales et traditions régionales, Paris, 2011, p. 353-366.

Kurd ‘Ali, M., Ḫoṭaṭ aš-šām, al-Taraqqi, Damas, 1927, 1st ed, vol. 5, p. 281

Al-Mashreq, “manārat as-sā’ah al-‘arabiyyah fi Beirut”, 2nd year, September, 1899, n° 17, p. 769.

Al-Mashreq, “ma’rad dimašq sanat 1936”, père Ferdinand Tautel, 34th year, April-June, 1936, n° 17, p. 398.

K-Nielsen, H.-C., S-Petersen, J., Middle Eastern Cities, 1900-1950, 2001, p. 14.

Kurd ‘Ali, M., Ḫoṭaṭ aš-Šām , al-Taraqqi, Damascus, 1927, Vol. 5, p. 290.

Kurd ‘Ali, M., Ġrā’ib al-ġarb, kitāb ‘ijtimā’i tāriḫi ‘iqtiṣādi ‘adabi, 2nd, al-‘Ahliyyah, Cairo, 1923.

Kurd ‘Ali, M., Ḫoṭaṭ aš-šām, , al-Taraqqi, Damascus, 1925, 1st ed. vol. 4, p. 145.

Al-Ḥeṣnī, M.-T., Montaḫabāt al-tawāriḫ li-dimašq, Beyrouth, Dār al-‘Āfāq al-jadīdah, 1927, Vol. 1, p. 302.

Ibid, p. 302.

Al-‘Azmah, Mirāt aš-šām, ed.1987, p. 111.

See on this subject: A. Soufan.,“Cement Tiles in the Architecture of Modernity in Syria During the First Half of 20th Century”, ABE – Architecture Beyond Europe, 2016, on-line. 


See on this subject: A. Soufan., Historiographical Overview on the Post Conflict Reconstruction in Syria: From the mid‐19th Century to the 2011 Crisis, WHC, 2016. http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/1286/

See on this topic: A. Soufan, “Historiographical Overview on the Post Conflict Reconstruction in Syria: From the mid-19th Century to the 2011 Crisis”, WHC, 2015.

Harisson, Rodney., “Forgetting to remember, remembering to forget: late modern heritage practices, sustainability and the ‘crisis’ of accumulation of the past”, In: International Journal of Heritage Studies, vol.19-6 2013.

Adrian Forty and Suzan Kuchler, The Art of forgetting, Bloomsbury Academic, 2001.

C. Nagel., “Reconstructing space, re-creating memory: sectarian politics and urban development in post-war Beirut”, In: Political Geography, 21 (2002) 717–725, p.723.

On this topic, see for example: Harries, Karsten., The ethical function of Architecture, MIT Press, 1997.
URI: https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/1908

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Metadata

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

© ICOMOS
https://www.icomos.org/en
documentation(at)icomos.org