„Hello, I’m John Cantlie“
Dschihadistische Propaganda und die gespenstische Medialität von Bedrohung
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14464/zsem.v39i3-4.685Keywords:
terrorism, propaganda video, jihad, hostage video, Islamic State (IS), media theory, terrorism research, rhetoric, John Cantlie, Jacques DerridaAbstract
Using the example of a video series by the ‘Islamic State’, the article sheds light on the threatening effect of terrorist propaganda. Beyond inducing terror, video propaganda aims at an epistemic unsettling of its viewers by using their anticipation and imagination. Viewers are being confused by the fact that their assumption concerning the deceptive nature of propaganda is actually in part, but never fully confirmed. The video series presents British journalist John Cantlie, a prisoner of ‘IS’ since 2012, as an ideological defector who is now supporting the caliphate. It is deliberately left open whether, or better: to what extent, Cantlie is forced to do these performances or to what extent he is possibly actually meaning what he says. Drawing upon Derrida’s concept of the ‘spectre’ and its traces in media theory and terrorism studies, Cantlie is re-conceptualized as a figure of indecision and unavailability which is crucial for understanding the threatening rhetoric and mediality of djihadist propaganda.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Anne Ulrich

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