Martyrdom and Terrorism: Pre-Modern to Contemporary Perspectives

Description

In recent years, terrorism has become closely associated with martyrdom in the minds of many terrorists and in the view of nations around the world. In Islam, martyrdom is mostly conceived as bearing witness to faith and God. Martyrdom is also central to the Christian tradition, not only in the form of Christ's Passion or saints faced with persecution and death, but in the duty to lead a good and charitable life. In both religions, the association of religious martyrdom with political terror has a long and difficult history. The essays of this volume illuminate this history--following, for example, Christian martyrdom from its origins in the Roman world, to the experience of the deaths of terrorist leaders of the French Revolution, to parallels in the contemporary world--and explore historical parallels among Islamic, Christian, and secular traditions. Featuring essays from eminent scholars in a wide range of disciplines, Martyrdom and Terrorism provides a timely comparative history of the practices and discourses of terrorism and martyrdom from antiquity to the twenty-first century. Cover Martyrdom and Terrorism Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Contributors Martyrdom and Terrorism Introduction ONE Pre- and Early Modern Violence and Martyrdom 1 Martyrdom, Memory, and the “Media Event” Were the Christians “Persecuted”? The Spectacular Self: Suffering, Conflict, and Performance in the Early Christian Imagination Ignatius of Antioch: The Spectacle of Martyrdom Tertullian of Carthage: The Narrative Magnetism of Suffering Martyrdom and the “Media Event”: Ethics, Communication, and the Willingness to Die 2 Martyrdom in Islamic Thought and Praxis Martyrdom in the Qur.an Martyrdom in the Hadith Literature Other Constructions of Martyrdom Modern and Contemporary Notions of Martyrdom 3 Rendering unto Caesar The Making of Martyrs The Making of Traitors Rendering unto Caesar? 4 Kristeva’s “New Knowledge” PART TWO The French Revolution and the Invention of Terrorism 5 Martyrdom, Terrorism, and the Rhetoric of Sacrifice 6 The Sentimental Construction of Martyrdom as Motivation in the Thought of Maximilien Robespierre, 1789–1792 7 Terror, Vengeance, and Martyrdom in the French Revolution 8 John Foxe and British Attitudes to Martyrdom after the French Revolution PART THREE Martyrdom, Terrorism, and the Modern West 9 Fenianism and the Martyrdom-Terrorism Nexus in Ireland before Independence 10 Spurning “This Worldly Life” Political and Socio-Cultural Motivations Religious and Personal Motivations Conclusions: Hyperreality and the Media of Martyrdom 11 Martyrdom and Hostage Executions in the Iraq War Abduction and Execution of Kenneth Bigley Abduction and Execution of Margaret Hassan Conclusion 12 Filming the Ends of Martyrdom Passive Martyrdoms Predatory Martyrdoms Dramatic Martyrdoms Conclusion Select Bibliography Index