2017 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Medusa's Gaze: The Politics and Aesthetics of Horror in the Age of Hyperviolence
| Project/Area Number |
17K18470
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| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University |
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Principal Investigator |
MANTELLO Peter・A 立命館アジア太平洋大学, アジア太平洋学部, 教授 (10454977)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | Jihadist / horror / martyrdom / scapegoat / media / terrorism / horrorism / ISIS |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
I carried out archival research in August and Sept. of FY2017 in Toronto and Montreal. I used the libraries of Concordia University and Toronto University to conduct my research. In Sept 2017, I intended the European International Studies Association in Barcelona, Spain. During this conference besides attending many presentations, I presented three papers in accordance with my research. Later I worked on a collaborative paper with Douglas Ponton. The findings of that paper will be published in Italiaca Forum later this summer.
In December FY2017 and Jan. of FY2017, I conducted field research in New York and Toronto. This research was divided between interviews and archival research. The archival research was on at Concordia University in Montreal. In March of FY2017, I journeyed to Europe to conduct field research in several countries. In Italy I worked on a collaborative writing project with Professor Douglas Ponton. I then journeyed to Porto, Portugal to do archival research at ISLA. Afterwards, I journeyed to Bratislava, Slovakia to attend a workshop and conduct interviews. The title of the workshop was Hard Lines, Porous Border: Media Representations of Brexit. I also conducted a series of interviews. After this I journeyed to Berlin, Germany to conduct field research visiting several museums which dealt with the rise of totalitarian regimes. Moreover, I conducted interview with Dr. Sebastian Kaempf an expert on jihadist media.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
To the best of my knowledge my research is progressing nicely. In this first year, I have been able to lay out a comfortable foundation for my publishing. Besides being able to get an article accepted into an internationally recognized peer review journal, I have been able to create a strong outline for my monograph that I had outlined as one of the main outputs of my research grant. The monograph proposal has been accepted for publication, by Taylor and Francis’s sub-company Routledge.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
My research plan now involves field research that encompasses seven different stages. The first stage investigates the socio-political dimensions of pre 20th century formations of spectacular violence (ritualized killings, blood sacrifices and public executions). The second stage examines 20th century terror and its relationship to new technologies and the development of mass media. The third stage focuses on the Western sanitization of battlefield and the horrific yet innovative media responses by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi (Al Qaeda in Iraq’s brutal emir). This fourth stage argues that while new technologies transformed the physical battlefield into a bloodless virtual iconography of war, it also allowed Zarqawi to develop a new style of information warfare that could sidestep the traditional censorship barriers of big media and challenge the West’s myth of clean war. The fifth maps the rise of the open source jihad movement. The sixth stage examines the rise of new Islamic militantism. media tastes and behavior of global youth by re-branding militant Islam into a hip, desirable and imitable lifestyle. The seventh stage explores in greater depth the concept of Jihadi cool by examining its affect on one specific domain of popular culture - the infectious world of rap music. The last stage examines the Islamic State’s net savvy yet gruesome politics of horror. The objective of this stage is to investigate the socio-technological developments and discursive practices through which the Islamic State transformed its war crimes into a successful marketing strategy.
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| Causes of Carryover |
I needed to carry over because intended field interviews for some subjects were cancelled at the last minute and thus, were rescheduled to FY2018.
I will be using the funds for next year to conduct field research in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. This field research will combine field interviews, observation, archival research as well as site visits. Moreover, I will use the funds for travel, accommodation and per diem for workshops and conferences.
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Research Products
(6 results)
