"Newer Generations Know Nothing or Almost Nothing About Their Heritage": Recounting and Interpreting Modern Lebanese Identity in Maine

This paper examines how Lebanese Americans in Maine understand their identity and how their community has evolved given the legacy of Lebanese immigration to the state—particularly the town of Waterville—in the late 1800s and early 1900s, primarily due to economic opportunity. While not all participants have ancestral ties to this early wave of immigration to Waterville, their experiences contribute to a broader understanding of Lebanese American identity in Maine today. Drawing on participant observation conducted in Maine and six semi-structured interviews conducted in person and virtually over five months, I extend Ghassan Moussawi’s concept of fractal Orientalism—applied initially to Lebanon’s capital, Beirut—to the Lebanese diaspora in Maine. I argue that fractal Orientalism, or “Orientalisms within the Middle East” (Moussawi 7), shapes how Lebanese Americans in Maine experience and express their identity. I also consider how the setting of Maine, with its own cultural values, affects participants’ experiences.