IS TERRORISM THEATRE? DRAMATURGICAL METAPHOR IN THE CASES OF BUDYONNOVSK, DUBROVKA AND BESLAN Janina Karolina Skrzypek A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2013 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3815 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence Is terrorism theatre? Dramaturgical metaphor in the cases of Budyonnovsk, Dubrovka and Beslan Janina Karolina Skrzypek This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews Date of submission: December 14th, 2012 2 3 ABSTRACT This thesis is about terrorism metaphorically conceptualised as drama, theatre, spectacle and performance. It focuses on terrorism as a process of communication aimed at manipulating political attitude and behaviour. Even though it is terrorist actors who usually initiate that communication, various audiences play an important part in it, too. Not only do they receive and interpret the terrorist message, but they also have an impact on the content of that message and how it is transmitted. What attests to an important role of audience in terrorism is that in order for terrorism to work, those watching – the audience – need to change their behaviour to suit the political goals of terrorists. Arguably, if it were not for the people who alter their political behaviour as a result of having been terrorized, terrorism would not work, not to mention succeed. Another reason why there can be no terrorism without an audience is because the necessary presence of an audience is exactly what differentiates terrorism from other forms of political violence, such as war, secret killings or torture. While, at least for the time being, terrorism research remains “actor- focused” (Hülsse and Spencer, 2008), there is clearly a need to make it more “audience-focused”, to reflect the importance of the audience in terrorism, as highlighted above. This thesis examines the extent to which this can be achieved using the metaphors of drama, theatre, spectacle and performance. By applying the four dramaturgical metaphors to the terrorist attacks in Budyonnovsk, Dubrovka and Beslan, it investigates the potential of the metaphors to enhance the understanding of the dynamics between terrorism and counter-terrorism as well as the interplay between their respective actors and audiences. 4 5 REQUIRED DECLARATIONS 1. CANDIDATE’S DECLARATIONS: I, Janina Karolina Skrzypek, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 75,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2007 and as a candidate for the degree of Ph. D in September 2008; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between September 2007 and November 2012. I, Janina Karolina Skrzypek, received assistance in the writing of this thesis in respect of language, grammar, spelling and syntax, which was provided by Dr Mary-Jane Fox. Date: December 14th, 2012 Signature of candidate ……… 2. SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph. D in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date: December 14th, 2012 Signature of supervisor ……… 6 3. PERMISSION FOR ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION: In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to this thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: (ii) Access to all of printed copy but embargo of all of electronic publication of thesis for a period of four years on the following ground(s): publication would preclude future publication. Date: December 14th, 2012 Date: December 14th, 2012 Signature of candidate: …… Signature of supervisor ……… 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 11 CHAPTER ONE 28 METAPHORS AND TERRORISM 28 CONCEPTUALISATION OF TERRORISM 53 CONCEPTUALISATION OF COUNTER‐TERRORISM 70 CHAPTER TWO 77 APPROACH 77 CONCEPTS 84 METHOD 108 CHAPTER THREE 114 THE THEATRE METAPHOR 115 THE PERFORMANCE METAPHOR 125 THE DRAMA METAPHOR 135 THE SPECTACLE METAPHOR 141 CHAPTER FOUR 148 OVERVIEW OF THE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE 149 OVERVIEW OF THE CASES 159 APPLYING METAPHORS TO THE CASES 166 CONCLUDING DISCUSSION AND COMMENTS 201 BIBLIOGRAPHY 217 8 FIGURES: Figure 1: Schmid and de Graaf’s Triangle of Insurgent Terrorism________54 Figure 2: Nacos’ Triangle of Political Communication including the “old” media________________________________________________56 Figure 3: Nacos’ Triangle of Political Communication including the “new” media________________________________________________57 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “The lights go up; the actors appear; the performance begins. It is a multiple creation – the outcome of the dramatist’s purpose, the producer’s style, the actors’ performances and the audience’s participation”. (Burns and Burns, 1973: 82) There would not be a theatrical performance, if it were not for long rehearsals, impromptu changes to the script, dress-fittings, consultations and last-minute reviews. There would not be a thesis, if it were not for the help of those working behind the scenes. My special thanks go to my supervisor Prof. Karin M. Fierke, whose advice and patience I very much appreciate. I would also like to thank Prof. Alex Danchev and Dr Jeffrey Murer for providing highly valuable comments on the previous version of this thesis. Dr Mary-Jane Fox coached me on the rewrite and kept me calm, Emilka Skrzypek, Dr Faye Donnelly, Ania Sowinska and Alicja Turner made sure I kept smiling, whereas my Mum and Dad made it all possible. It is to them that I dedicate this thesis. 10 11 INTRODUCTION “[W]hat one calls things matters. There are few neutral terms in politics, because political language affects the perceptions of protagonists and audiences, and such effect acquires a greater urgency in the drama of terrorism”. (Crenshaw, 1995: 7) This thesis provides an in-depth discussion of the metaphors of drama, theatre, spectacle and performance, which it later applies to its case studies – the terrorist attacks in Budyonnovsk, Dubrovka, and Beslan. In doing so, it demonstrates the so far understudied analytical potential of the dramaturgical metaphors to deepen the understanding of terrorism, which this thesis conceptualises as a strategy of communication aimed at manipulating people’s political attitudes and behaviour. Metaphors play an important role in enhancing the understanding of complex phenomena and experiences in general, and politics in particular. They often do so by simplifying them or by comparing them to phenomena and experiences that are better known and therefore easier to comprehend. However, in order for metaphors to be effective, those relying on metaphors need to use them in a similar context and in a similar way. In other words, those using metaphors to enhance the understanding of a particular phenomenon or experience need to be linguistically coherent (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003). This thesis demonstrates that this is not yet the case with the “terrorism is (like) theatre” metaphor in Terrorism Studies, wherein the most basic idea of “theatre” and “terrorism as theatre” is subject to many, sometimes very diverse, interpretations and implementations. As a result, the popular comparison between terrorism and theatre frequently serves as an embellishment rather than a useful analytical term. There is little controversy in the literature about dramatistic, theatrical, performative and/or spectacular qualities of terrorism. However, most terrorism scholarship, which relies on the association of terrorism with theatre or other theatre-related categories like drama, performance or spectacle, tends not to analyse those metaphors critically. Instead, it often replicates the “programmatic 12 catchphrases” like “terrorism is theatre”, “the drama of terrorism” or “terrorism spectacular”, leaving the very assumptions behind such dramaturgical references unexplained.1 The purpose of this Introduction is to present the concepts, ideas and puzzles driving the investigation into whether terrorism is theatre. To that end, it outlines potential problems of defining and studying terrorism, and introduces the metaphorical approach as a valuable research tool for its analysis. Furthermore, having