Abstract
This article examines three main acts in the life of the Rashid Theater in Baghdad, one of Iraq's emblematic national institutions since its establishment in 1981. By applying the concept of lieux de mémoire (sites of memory), I argue that this theater has contributed to the articulation of Iraqi national identity and has been a site of Iraqi national memory. I investigate the political and sociocultural impact of Iraqi oil wealth, showing how the Ba'th Party regime employed this resource in strengthening its ideology and propaganda using the theater. The roles that the Rashid Theater played in Iraq's state- and nation-building processes — through the geographical site it occupies, the aesthetic techniques developed there, and the performances staged there — have given it a crucial position in Iraq's cultural memory.
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