Off the Wall: Political Posters of the Lebanese Civil War
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In this lavishly illustrated work, Zeina Maasri tells the tumultuous story of the struggle for Lebanon through the poster wars which raged on its streets. From 1975 to 1990, different factions in Lebanon’s civil conflict flooded the streets with posters to mobilize their constituencies, undermine their enemies, and create public sympathy for their cause. Showcased here for the first time, the posters display a dramatic clash of cultures, ideologies and meanings. Maasri shows how the iconography of the posters changed throughout the war, and links this to changing political identities and imagined communities. She explores the factions' different aesthetic influences; from modern Arab visual culture to Latin America and revolutionary Iran. Combining in-depth knowledge of the local context with fascinating insights into the semiotics of visual media, Off the Wall is a highly original contribution to our understanding of visual culture, civil conflict, and the politics of the Middle East. The New York Times - Steven HellerThis is not a picture book per se, although it is well illustrated with black-and-white and color plates. Maasri, an associate professor of graphic design at the American University of Beirut, provides a detailed analysis of the nature of graphic propaganda and of the issues Lebanon faced during its civil war, along with explanations of various symbols and motifs.
List of PostersForeword Fawwaz Traboulsi Traboulsi, FawwazPt. I The Poster in ContextIntroduction Political Posters as Symbolic Sites of Struggle 3Graphic Chronologies 201 Agents, Aesthetic Genres and Localities 35Pt. II Themes, Icons and Signs2 Leadership 553 Commemoration 714 Martyrdom 875 Belonging 101Notes 117Bibliography 125Poster Credits 133Index 135
