The social construction of the Tunisian revolutionary martyr in the media and popular perception

Abstract

This paper deals with the efforts of Tunisians to define and honour victims of the revolution of January 2011. The paper argues that revolutionary ‘martyrdom’ can only be understood with reference not only to current events, but also as informed by the historical experience of the Tunisian people and the Arab world. A brief historic background on martyrdom in Islamic societies is presented, before examining how the concept of martyrdom changed as a result of the developmentalist and distributory Arab states that emerged following twentieth-century independence movements. Interviews and media reports are used to highlight the role of the public sphere and civil society in shaping Tunisian attitudes towards victims of the 2011 revolution.