article
'The divine impatience': ritual, narrative, and symbolism in the practice of martyrdom in Palestine
Medical anthropology quarterly • 12 (1) • Published In 1998 • Pages: 8-30
By: Pitcher, Linda M..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Pitcher examines the ritual, narrative, and symbolic dimensions of martyrdom (SHAHADA) by Palestinian activist youth (SHEBAB) in an effort to understand why they do it. 'What pushes someone to stand before his or her own purposeful destruction? (p. 11)' She recounts verbatim several stories of martyrdom told to her by mothers, sisters, and wives, as acts of bearing witness. She employs theories of the body as a site of social inscription, liminality, Lacanian subjectivity, and sacrifice to try and explain martyrdom, but admits she can only achieve a fragmentary understanding of it, because ultimately it is an act that defies reason.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Verbal arts
- Revolution
- Aftermath of combat
- Cult of the dead
- Adolescent activities
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Palestinians
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2005
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle East
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Middle East
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2004
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1991
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1989-1996
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Occupied Territories, Israel
- NotesAdditional notes
- Linda M. Pitcher
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 29-30)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 84643999
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Palestinian Arabs