A Phenomenological Understanding of the Lived Experience of Fighting for and in One's Homeland: Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990

This dissertation examines the lived experience of fighting for and in one's homeland to add to the existing literature on combat. Particularly in the literature produced or available in the United States (US), narratives centered on going away to war because all recent US wars were foreign deployments. Research related to the experience of picking up arms to form/join a militia to defend one's homeland is scarce. The aim of this dissertation is to unfold the lived meaning of such an experience with ex-combatants of the Lebanese Civil War (1975--1999) using a phenomenological, participatory action research approach to life and oral histories. As part of the study, fourteen male and female veterans who remained in Lebanon or immigrated to Montreal were interviewed by the researcher using prompts developed with ex-fighter Lebanese consultants. The dissertation is a starting point for future research comparing the experience of fighting for and in one's homeland to deployment abroad, as well as understanding motivations for leaving one's homeland post-war.