The War Over al-Aṭlāl in Downtown Beirut: Suspension and Labyrinth in Taqrīr Mehlis

In a close reading of Jaber’s novel Taqrῑr Mehlis (2005), this chapter studies the form of past recollections upon the encounter with the traumatic aṭlālal-aṭlāltraumatic aṭlāl in Beirut’s reconfigured city centerBeirut city center in 2005al-Hariri, Rafiq. Based onruins an important distinction between al-aṭlālal-aṭlāl motif and the concept of ‘ruins’, it investigates the war over al-aṭlāl between SolidereSolidere’s reconstructionreconstruction plan and the return of the war’s disappearedwar disappeared to downtown Beirut. It first looks at the experiences of a resident-survivor to examine the challenges al-aṭlālal-aṭlāl face in the commercial central district. It then provides a closer inspection of the ghostly aṭlāl in Beirut, ascribing to them Jalal TouficToufic, Jalal’s notion of ‘labyrinthine temporalitylabyrinthlabyrinthine temporality’al-aṭlāl; first, through outside observations of sudden mental lapsespostwar experiencelapses (e.g. prolonged absentmindedness); and second, through self-reflectiveself-reflective accounts produced by the undead from inside al-aṭlālruins.