Martyrdom

Abstract

A central argument of this book is that Syrian theatre artists have engaged or challenged government grand narratives by adopting or transforming many of the terms by which the state has represented Arab resistance to external threats. I begin with one of the most over-determined and contested words in the Syrian discourse: martyrdom. The word condenses different political and social experiences into a single image — a lifeless body, the marks of its trauma still plainly visible. In its control of school curriculum, and numerous voluntary organizations like the Baath Vanguard, the Revolutionary Youth, and the Union of Students, the Baath party has worked assiduously to shape the idea of martyrdom. Within Baath ideology, this martyr represents a pan-Arab commitment to resisting colonialism that began with the struggle against Ottoman imperialism and that continues in the government’s battle with foreign jihadists funded by the US, reactionary Arab states, and/or Israel. Martyrs gave their lives to secure a strong state and, now that this is accomplished, give their lives to protect that state. A quick glance at YouTube reveals that the idea has come full circle. In hundreds of thousands of videos the martyr is the man or woman who dies defying the state.