Cosmopolitan Radicalism: The Visual Politics of Beirut's Global Sixties

This book explores the intersections of visual culture, design, and politics in Beirut from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, examining the transnational circuits that animated Arab modernist pursuits and the cultural transformations that saw Beirut develop as a Mediterranean site of tourism and leisure, a nexus between modern art and pan-Arab publishing, and a node in revolutionary anti-imperialism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 343 pages
Publication date: 16 June 2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

This captivating interdisciplinary study delves into the intricate intersections of visual culture, design, and politics in Beirut from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s. By critically examining a global conjuncture in Lebanon's history, marked by anticolonial struggle and complicated by a Cold War order, it sheds light on a pivotal period in the country's history. Rather than celebrating the "golden years," Beirut's long 1960s are portrayed as a liminal juncture, an anxious time and space where the city held out promises of both politically radical and radically cosmopolitan ideals. Zeina Maasri delves into the transnational circuits that fueled Arab modernist pursuits, illuminating significant cultural transformations that saw Beirut emerge as a Mediterranean site of tourism and leisure, a hub for modern art and pan-Arab publishing, and, through the rise of the Palestinian Resistance, a node in revolutionary anti-imperialism. By drawing on previously unexplored archives of printed media, this book broadens the scope of historical analysis of the postcolonial Arab East, offering a fresh perspective on this complex and dynamic period.

ISBN-13: 9781108720830