Words between Freedom and Control

Abstract

This thesis focuses on free speech in a context of state control. The author traces the historical, political and conceptual conditions of existence of the decadent and hedonist poetry club Bayt al-Qasid in Damascus, Syria. It acts like an illusion of freedom. By using Foucault’s concept of heterotopia the author reveals the processes of alternative social ordering. As the revolution starts across the country, the poetic utopic bubble has burst. Bayt al-Qasid ceased to exist as its prime condition of existence disappeared.

Because of BaQ’s in-between position the author was able to follow the changing lives of very different personalities which reflected the struggles and dilemma’s of ordinary Syrians