Spaces of Religious Co-Existence

Markstein 308

Discourse of spatiality has been approached differently by scholars since the 1900’s, and rather than viewing space as what it previously was—an open or empty area—scholars are analyzing space as a means of segregation, separation, and power. Postmodernism is, arguably, the driving force of spatial disorientation, causing communities to develop subjective utopic ideals as a means of attaining stability. Lebanon may be viewed as Foucault’s Heterotopia to the Western World; a land that bears physical marks of war, religion, and community. Yet while spatial disorientation may have occurred on the physical sense, the interaction between Maronites and Shia indicate that there is a shared sense of reality; the countless wars fought between the two communities indicates they have to stay grounded in a shared, objective reality, which has resulted in “competitive harmony.”