Michel Aoun, âPatriarch of the Christian Streetâ
Leadership, Affect, and the Politics of Communalization in Lebanon
In: Middle East Journal of Culture and CommunicationSearch for other papers by Bruno Lefort in
Current site
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Designating himself as âPatriarch of the Christian streetâ, Michel Aoun has become the main character of a social narration. A network of partisan media institutions orchestrates the circulation of the leaderâs image. These productions operate in a fragmented media environment in which each complex primarily targets a specific and already sensitized population. These publics, for which the transmission of family memory has often worked as a prerequisite, in turn spread a specific interpretation of Lebanese reality. Such modes of representation, both vertical (inspired by the partisan institutions) and horizontal (relying on peer-to-peer circulation) frame Aounâs image in reference to a triple aesthetics deliberately emphasizing affects: a patriarchal family trope revealing a sense of fusion, a heroic picture stirring inspiration, and a prophetâs metaphor fostering communion within the group. As a consequence, the group of followers is produced primarily as affective, in opposition to alternative negative figures. In that respect, the study of the representations of a figure like Michel Aoun enables us to investigate the contemporary configurations in which collectives are produced in Lebanon and thus to re-examine the very nature of politics in this segmented polity.
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Anis, interview with the author, 25 May 2010.
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Bachir, interview with the author, 5 May 2008.
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Paula, interview with the author, 4 May 2008.
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Malek, interview with the author, 26 May 2010.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
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Michel Aoun, âPatriarch of the Christian Streetâ
Leadership, Affect, and the Politics of Communalization in Lebanon
In: Middle East Journal of Culture and CommunicationSearch for other papers by Bruno Lefort in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Designating himself as âPatriarch of the Christian streetâ, Michel Aoun has become the main character of a social narration. A network of partisan media institutions orchestrates the circulation of the leaderâs image. These productions operate in a fragmented media environment in which each complex primarily targets a specific and already sensitized population. These publics, for which the transmission of family memory has often worked as a prerequisite, in turn spread a specific interpretation of Lebanese reality. Such modes of representation, both vertical (inspired by the partisan institutions) and horizontal (relying on peer-to-peer circulation) frame Aounâs image in reference to a triple aesthetics deliberately emphasizing affects: a patriarchal family trope revealing a sense of fusion, a heroic picture stirring inspiration, and a prophetâs metaphor fostering communion within the group. As a consequence, the group of followers is produced primarily as affective, in opposition to alternative negative figures. In that respect, the study of the representations of a figure like Michel Aoun enables us to investigate the contemporary configurations in which collectives are produced in Lebanon and thus to re-examine the very nature of politics in this segmented polity.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 924 | 78 | 10 |
| Full Text Views | 268 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 110 | 5 | 0 |
