ORCID ID
0009-0008-8048-1938
Date of Award
5-2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
James Mokhiber
Second Advisor
Guenter Bischof
Third Advisor
Marc Landry II
Fourth Advisor
Graham Auman Pitts
Abstract
This thesis explores the winemaking and arak industries in Lebanon, defined temporally by the direct colonial control of the League of Nations Mandate, 1920-1946. The wine producers explored in this thesis were highly influenced by French culture and responded to colonial imposition by producing wines in the European style and with imported European grape varieties, in an effort to create a Lebanese wine identity during a time of bourgeoning nationalism. In contrast, the arak producers formed a union, the Syndicat des Viticulteurs, and protected their heritage industry through legislation in first, the French, and then, the independent Lebanese government. Using archives from prominent winemakers as well as records of the French government, this thesis shows an unintended but beneficial result of the actions taken by the Syndicat: the preservation of indigenous Lebanese grape varieties, which are integral to the decolonization of the Lebanese wine industry in the present day.
Recommended Citation
Bechara, Samira, "La Vigne Périssante?: Wine and Arak in French Colonial Lebanon, 1920-1946" (2024). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 3134.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/3134
Included in
Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, Political History Commons, Social History Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.