War memorials, between propaganda and history: Mleeta Landmark and Hezbollah

Abstract

War memorials have been historically used as propaganda tools that facilitated the creation of a collective memory about past actions. With the rise of the society of leisure and gamification, new strategies to reach these goals seem to be developing. With this in mind we study the case of Mleeta Landmark, built in Lebanon as a theme park to commemorate Hezbollah’s role in the 2006 war against Israel. To do this, we analyse the usage, history and main characteristics of war memorials. With this information, we outline the existence of a new hybrid model in Mleeta, which combines an original family-oriented vision with the traditional memorial’s role. It possesses many museum features, such as multi-lingual guides, and those of a memorial, with abundant military elements. This convergence is a unique example of propaganda and historical recreation oriented towards the viewer and embodies the contradictions within Hezbollah itself, both a religious, political and military group.