Words are Weapons

Words are Weapons
Author: Philippe-Joseph Salazar
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2017-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0300223226

The first book to offer a rigorous, sophisticated analysis of ISIS's rhetoric and why it is so persuasive ISIS wages war not only on the battlefield but also online and in the media. Through a close examination of the words and images ISIS uses, with particular attention to the "digital caliphate" on the web, Philippe-Joseph Salazar theorizes an aesthetic of ISIS and its self-presentation. As a philosopher and historian of ideas, well versed in both the Western and the Islamic traditions, Salazar posits an interpretation of Islam that places speech--the profession of faith--at the center of devotion and argues that evocation of the simple yet profound utterance of faith is what gives power to the rhetoric that ISIS and others employ. At the same time, Salazar contends that Western discourse has undergone a "rhetorical disarmament." To win the fight against ISIS and Islamic extremism, Western democracies, their media, politicians, and counterterrorism agencies must consider radically changing their approach to Islamic extremism.

The Little Book of Terror

The Little Book of Terror
Author: Daisy Rockwell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2011
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780984748617

Literary Nonfiction. Art. THE LITTLE BOOK OF TERROR is a treasure that defies easy classification: more than a collection of paintings, more than a compilation of piquant, compelling essays, it can be thought of as a secular missal, offering a new liturgy for observing the Rite of The Contrary. THE LITTLE BOOK OF TERROR is a literary missile, as well—Daisy Rockwell's searing images and carefully-crafted prose aim directly at the bloated heart of Imperial pretension. On impact, Rockwell's work makes rubble of propaganda passing as conventional wisdom, leaving in its place a new vista from which to consider the "Global War on Terror" and its complicated combatants. For Rockwell's legions of readers and admirers, THE LITTLE BOOK OF TERROR is a blast of a different kind: a stirring read, a poignant comment, and a collection of sights not soon forgotten.

Conrad and Language

Conrad and Language
Author: Baxter Katherine Isobel Baxter
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2016-07-07
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1474403786

Opens up the rich topic of Joseph Conrad's complex relationship with languageJoseph Conrad was, famously, trilingual in Polish, French and English, and was also familiar with German, Russian, Dutch and Malay. He was also a consummate stylist, using words with the precision of a poet in his fiction.The essays in this collection examine his engagement with specific lexical sets and terminology - maritime language, the language of terror, and abstract language; issues of linguistic communication - speech, hearing, and writing; and his relationship to specific languages - his deployment of foreign languages, his decision to write in English, and his reception through translation. The collection closes with an Afterword by renowned Conrad scholar, Laurence Davies.Key FeaturesThe first academic and critical study wholly devoted to the topic of Conrad and language, and the first to address that topic from a diversity of critical approachesSpeaks to a range of current trends in literary criticism including transnationalism, lateness, translation studies, terrorism and disabilities studiesComprises newly commissioned essays by leading and emerging Conrad scholars from around the world, employing a variety of approaches including philosophy, psychoanalytical theory, biographical theory, as well as textually driven readings

States of Terror

States of Terror
Author: David Simpson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2019-03-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 022660036X

How have we come to depend so greatly on the words terror and terrorism to describe broad categories of violence? David Simpson offers here a philology of terror, tracking the concept’s long, complicated history across literature, philosophy, political science, and theology—from Plato to NATO. Introducing the concept of the “fear-terror cluster,” Simpson is able to capture the wide range of terms that we have used to express extreme emotional states over the centuries—from anxiety, awe, and concern to dread, fear, and horror. He shows that the choices we make among such words to describe shades of feeling have seriously shaped the attribution of motives, causes, and effects of the word “terror” today, particularly when violence is deployed by or against the state. At a time when terror-talk is widely and damagingly exploited by politicians and the media, this book unpacks the slippery rhetoric of terror and will prove a vital resource across humanistic and social sciences disciplines.