Jihadi Audiovisuality and its Entanglements: Meanings, Aesthetics, Appropriations

ISIS uses social media to empower supporters and reinforce its message, and Jihadi groups and their supporters use visualisation, sound production, and aesthetic means to articulate their cause in online and offline contexts. This book examines how militant Islamist audiovisual productions are part of global media aesthetics and practices, and how religious actors, artists, civil society activists, global youth, political forces, security agencies, and researchers engage with mediated manifestations of Jihadi ideology to deconstruct, reinforce, defy, or oppose the messages.

Format: Hardback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 31 December 2020
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

ISIS, often referred to as a terrorist organization, has gained notoriety for its effective use of social media to amplify its message and mobilize its supporters. This book delves into the various strategies employed by Jihadi groups and their followers to communicate their cause through visual imagery, sound production, and aesthetic means, both in online and offline contexts. Through a series of 12 case studies, the authors explore how Jihadi groups appropriate traditional and popular cultural expressions and how political activists utilize extremist media to counter and resist the propaganda. By framing Jihadi audiovisual productions as part of global media aesthetics and practices, the authors shed light on the diverse range of individuals and groups, including religious actors, artists, civil society activists, global youth, political forces, security agencies, and researchers, who engage with mediated manifestations of Jihadi ideology. Their analysis reveals how these individuals and groups deconstruct, reinforce, defy, or oppose the messages conveyed by Jihadi propaganda.

Weight: 700g
Dimension: 163 x 240 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474467513