Verena Anna Voigt, M. A.

Institute of Political Science

Curriculum Vitae

Ph. D. Project

Project: Old Wine in New Bottles? The Return and Transformation of the Concept of Martyr-dom in Modern Nationalist Movements: Palestine and Sri Lanka

The use of the term “martyrdom” by certain nationalist movements is one of the most striking examples of the transfer of genuine religious language into modern political contexts. The term “martyr” replaces the terms “hero” and “victim”, which have traditionally been used in connection with political struggles, and it seems rather surprising that the renaissance of the concept of martyrdom in both Palestine and Sri Lanka has been initiated by organisations which explicitly considered or still consider themselves as secular or even leftist. This study seeks to explore the utility of the concept of martyrdom for nationalist movements and to illustrate the reinterpretations of religious traditions which have been accomplished to adjust doctrines, rituals and narratives so as to fit modern political contexts.

Methodologically, the study seeks to combine different theoretical approaches in order to gain a better understanding of the role of martyrdom in modern political movements and of the propaganda mechanisms employed to achieve the intended results. One of the hypotheses that are to be verified in the study is that these intended results are structurally similar to the traditional religious context in which the different concepts of martyrdom emerged. Therefore, the first part of the analysis will focus on this religious context to explore the sociological role of martyrdom in religious communities and the doctrines and narratives which have been developed to propagate martyrdom as an exemplary and commendable action. While the first part of the study will methodologically be based on approaches typically employed within the sociology of religion and cultural studies, the second part, which deals with the case studies, will rely on different approaches that are usually summarised under “social movement theory”. Special attention will be given to the mechanisms that the organisations under research use to frame the nationalist discourse. In both case studies, martyrdom plays a significant role in the framing process, namely in the choice of strategies to fight the enemy, the construction of identity, the strengthening of social cohesion, and the recruitment of new followers.

A comparison between nationalist movements in Palestine and Sri Lanka seems worthwhile because the organisations are operating in a similar political context. Also, there are striking similarities regarding the role of martyrdom in the framing process and the generated symbols, doctrines and narratives, despite the fact that the organisations are situated in different cultural contexts, thus referring to different religious traditions.

Research Interests

• History and dogmatic of the three major monotheistic religions
• Religion and politics
• Interreligious Dialogue
• Concepts of Martyrdom

Function within the Cluster/Membership in Projects and Groups:

• Member of the study group Conflicts in the area of Religion and Politics
• Member of the study group Concepts of the Enemy - Formation, Development and Reception 
• Associate member of the study group Mixing Religions - Religious Multiple Identities
• Member of the study group Emic and etic perspectives on Religion and Politics

Publications:

Anthology:

• Fürst, Alfons/Harutyunyan, Harutyun/Schrage, Eva-Maria/Voigt, Verena (eds.): Von Ketzern und Terroristen: Interdisziplinäre Studien zur Konstruktion und Rezeption von Feindbildern. Münster: Aschendorff (forthcoming).

Articles:

• Zionistischer Kolonialist vs. palästinensischer Terrorist: Feindbilder im Israel-Palästina-Konflikt. In: Fürst, Alfons/Harutyunyan, Harutyun/Schrage, Eva-Maria/Voigt, Verena (eds.): Von Ketzern und Terroristen: Interdisziplinäre Studien zur Konstruktion und Rezeption von Feindbildern. Münster: Aschendorff (forthcoming).
• Identität durch Territorialkonflikt. In: Robert, Rüdiger/Schlicht, Daniela/Saleem, Shazia (eds.): Kollektive Identitäten im Nahen und Mittleren Osten - Studien zum Verhältnis von Staat und Religion. Münster: Waxmann, 2010.
• Nationalismus und religiöse Sprache - Die Verwendung des Märtyrerbegriffes in der LTTE. In: Gabriel, Karl/Spieß, Christian/Winkler, Katja (eds.): Religion - Gewalt - Terrorismus. Religionssoziologische und ethische Analysen. Paderborn: Schöningh, 2010.
• Schulbücher im Konflikt: Der Streit um anti-israelische Inhalte in palästinensischen Schulbüchern. In: Djurović, Arsen/Matthes, Eva (eds.): Freund- und Feindbilder in Schulbüchern. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt, 2010.

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