Abstract
Martyrdom has an undeniable rhetorical dimension, and part of a martyr’s voice is the manner of his or her death. However, martyrdom does not stand alone. It is contextualized and constructed by the voice of ideologues. This project looks at the spoken and written rhetoric of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, leader of al-Qaeda, and seeks to understand his descriptions, attributions, and stories about martyrs and martyrdom. An analysis of 93 statements by Zawahiri was performed to identify his overarching martyr narrative and archetype. Major findings include a taxonomy of martyr attributes and a narrative trajectory of martyrdom. While pro-USA rhetoric constructs al-Qaeda’s martyrs as radical terrorists, Zawahiri tells a tale of stalwart, pious, and simple men.
Keywords
martyr, martyrdom, narrative, al-Qaeda, Zawahiri
Publication Date
3-30-2016
DOI
10.46743/1082-7307/2016.1299
Recommended Citation
Huffman, Tim
(2016)
"You Have Atomic Bombs, We Have the Martyrdom-Seekers: Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s Narrative Arc of the Martyr,"
Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 23:
No.
1, Article 3.
DOI: 10.46743/1082-7307/2016.1299
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol23/iss1/3
