Overview

"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."

Full Product Details

Author:   Dominic Janes (Senior Lecturer in Art History, Senior Lecturer in Art History, Birkbeck College, University of London) ,  Alex Houen (Senior University Lecturer in Modern Literature, Senior University Lecturer in Modern Literature, Cambridge University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 23.10cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 15.50cm
Weight:   0.499kg
ISBN:  

9780199959877

ISBN 10:   0199959870
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   26 June 2014
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

"Contributors Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Introduction Part I: Martyrdom and Pre-Modern Violence 1. Kate Cooper, Martyrdom, Memory, and the ""Media Event"": Visionary Writing and Christian Apology in Second-Century Christianity 2. Asma Afsaruddin, Martyrdom in Islamic Thought and Praxis: A Historical Survey 3. Susannah Monta, Rendering unto Caesar: The Rhetorics of Divided Loyalties in Tudor England 4. Gary Waller, Kristeva's ""New Knowledge"": Terrorism, Martyrdom, and Psychoanalytic Humanism: Insights from Two Early Modern Instances. Part II: The French Revolution and the Invention of Terrorism 5. Julia V. Douthwaite, Martyrdom, Terrorism, and the Rhetoric of Sacrifice: The cases of Marat, Robespierre, and Loiserolles 6. David Andress, The Sentimental Construction of Martyrdom as Motivation in the Thought of Robespierre, 1789-1792 7. Ronald Schechter, Terror, Vengeance and Martyrdom in the French Revolution: The Case of the Shades 8. Dominic Janes, John Foxe and British Attitudes to Martyrdom after the French Revolution Part III: Martyrdom, Terrorism and the Modern West 9. Guy Beiner, Fenianism and the Martyrdom-Terrorism Nexus in Ireland before Independence 10. Akil N. Awan, Spurning ""this Worldly Life"": Terrorism and Martyrdom in Contemporary Britain 11. Alex Houen, Martyrdom and Hostage Executions in the Iraq War: The Cases of Kenneth Bigley and Margaret Hassan 12. Jolyon Mitchell, Filming the Ends of Martyrdom Select Bibliography Index"

Reviews

This book offers an important and timely contribution to debates about terrorism. By tracing the meanings of martyrdom, sacrifice, and terrorism across a range of cultural and historical contexts, the essays in this book shed new light on the role of religion, secularism, and sovereignty in shaping our understanding of political violence. Stephen Morton, author of States of Emergency: Colonialism, Literature and Law

This book offers an important and timely contribution to debates about terrorism. By tracing the meanings of martyrdom, sacrifice, and terrorism across a range of cultural and historical contexts, the essays in this book shed new light on the role of religion, secularism, and sovereignty in shaping our understanding of political violence. --Stephen Morton, author of States of Emergency: Colonialism, Literature and Law

Author Information

Dominic Janes is Reader in Cultural History and Visual Studies at Birkbeck, University of London. In addition to a spell as a lecturer at Lancaster University, he has been a research fellow at London and Cambridge universities. His latest book project is Queer Martyrdom from John Henry Newman to Derek Jarman. Alex Houen is Senior University Lecturer in Modern Literature in the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Pembroke College. He is author of Terrorism and Modern Literature, as well as various articles and book chapters on literature and political violence.

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