With the publication of the first volume of his “Lieux de Mémoire” in 1984, French historian Pierre Nora became one of the first scholars to suggest that History and Memory should not be simply seen as two diametrically opposed forms of representation of the past, but rather as two different - though closely interrelated - ways of relating to the past in the present. While Nora’s publishing venture has been largely criticized for becoming itself an instrument of commemoration, I propose to explore here the potential relevance of the original concept of “Lieu de Mémoire” for a better understanding of the relationships between History and Memory in the Middle East.
More specifically, I suggest that the analysis of the progressive construction of the Dinshaway Incident as a “Lieu de Mémoire” by both Egyptian nationalist elites and local peasants between 1906 and 2006 will allow me to shed new light on the respective natures of History and Memory, and the intricate relationships that they entertain. Based upon the historical-anthropological study of a variety of narratives of History and Memory (including history works, folksongs and interviews), this presentation will show how the period 1906-1952 witnessed both the transformation of an elite stream of memory of the event into a hegemonic historical narrative, and the concomitant construction of a coherent subaltern counter-memory. I will then explore the politics of state commemoration of the Dinshaway Incident which developed between 1952 and 2006, focusing on the ways in which this new memorial narrative was partially shaped by and in turn contributed to shape the subaltern counter-memory. This exploration of the construction of the Dinshaway Incident as a “Lieu de Mémoire”, as a realm located at the crossroads between multiple histories and memories, will eventually allow me to subversively refine Nora’s own definitions of History and Memory.