아프리카ㆍ중동

Identity is fluid, selective, situational, and negotiable. It is also a continuously defined and re-defined process. National identity discourse of Maronites clearly shows these features. In claiming for Lebanon as an independent state, experience of the "imarah" or emirate of Fakhr al-Din and his successors provided the historical justification, while the "Refuge theory" supported the image of Lebanon as a safe haven for persecuted minorities in the region. On the other hand, Phoenicianism effectively differentiated Maronites, and further Lebanese in general, from other Arab neighbors ethnically claiming that they are descendents of the ancient Phoenicians who had contributed to the world civilization. This article examines how these theories were developed as a national identity discourse of Maronites, what they claim, and what they mean to Maronites and Lebanese.