Introduction

Writing the history of the civil war-disappeared in Lebanon, as in many post-conflict societies, remains a very challenging task, considering the circumstances that ensued the controversial war resolution, leaving the nation in a state of anticipation of a comprehensive reconciliation plan. Given the reluctance of successive postwar governments to conduct serious investigations in this respect, hardly any official documents are available to help write the history of the war-disappeared after their disappearances—except for the very few who returned from Syrian prisons. Moving beyond this deadlock, this book draws on fictional scenarios from Rabee Jaber’s novels to conceptualize the possibility of narrating the suppressed past of those who had gone missing during the war, a history that might otherwise remain unaddressed. It particularly focuses on generating methods to produce a traumatic history, introducing new constructs, notably the concept of traumatic aṭlāl, exploring new dynamics of intergenerational trauma, and drafting an ambitious model of trauma testimonies.