Paper Short Abstract:

This article will explore how the collaged states of Lebanon and North Cyprus manifest a potent spectral presence in the everyday. We will focus on the desire for being feared versus fearing others and the ambiguous boundary between il/legality and in/visibility.

Paper Abstract:

I recall Kantorovitch's theory that the spectral incarnation of the police functions as the state's enduring embodiment as we pass through a checkpoint on the outskirts of North Lebanon. Uttering "Ya3tik al 3afye ya watan," to the military officer which translates to "May God give you health watan," reverberates through us, watan translating into the nation in Arabic. This article will explore how the collaged states of Lebanon and North Cyprus manifest a potent spectral presence in the everyday. We will look into how we can catch a glimpse of the spectral presence of the Lebanese state when a generator light flashes yellow, resulting in the jubilant phrase "this is the state" when energy is delivered by the national grid. We will question the states' position as excess that subvert reasonable functionality and analyse excess as fantasy, which encompasses several forms such as the desire for being feared versus fearing others and the ambiguous boundary between il/legality and in/visibility (Aretxaga 2003). We will also explore performative discourses that question these collaged states’ presence as delineated by Berlant (2011a), the tense relationship between the state and its citizens becomes most palpable when the existence and legitimacy of the state are questioned or denied. We intentionally refer to Lebanon and North Cyprus as collaged states as we argue that the interstices striking through their “imperfect” statehood can form a disjunctive temporality to catch a glimpse of how the fetish of power intrudes into the present through different forms and stories.