Mediated Muslim martyrdom

Rethinking digital solidarity in the “Arab Spring”

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12656152
AutoresJ Sumiala (0000-0002-4773-4509, University of Helsinki, autor de correspondencia), Lilly Korpiola (University of Helsinki)
Año2016
Volumen19
Número1
Páginas52-66
Fecha de publicación2016-06-07
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1461444816649918
OpenAlexW2414475888
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas30

In today’s world of networked, mobile, and global digital communication, Muslim martyrdom as a multi-layered communicative practice has experienced a new type of media saturation, thereby posing a challenge for the study of media, religion, and culture in a digital age. In this article, the analysis focuses on two cases of high symbolic relevance for the events later referred to as the “Arab Spring”—the deaths of a Tunisian fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi and a young Egyptian man Khaled Saeed. Special focus is given to the discussion of digital solidarities and their construction in circulation and remediation of martyr narratives of Bouazizi and Saeed in diverse media contexts. In this global development of digital solidarities, we identify two categories of martyr images of particular relevance—a “living martyr” and a “tortured martyr”—and discuss their resonance with different historical, religious, cultural, and political frames of interpretation. In conclusion, we reflect on the question of the ethics of global mediation of Muslim martyrdom and its implications for the study field of media, religion, and culture in its digital state

Art · Digital media · Literature · Martyr · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Solidarity · Theology · Gender Studies · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy · Social Media and Politics · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence