Religious Populism: The Use of Jihadi Poetry for Recruitment into Violence

• In Event: Poster Session: Political Science Education; Information Technology and Politics & Politics Literature, and Film
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Politics, Literature and Film

Abstract

Why do jihadi movements use poetry for communication? The discursive nature of religious populism has engendered a resurgence of discourse-narrative methodology and critical scholarship focused on textual data. However, the focus on political communication has missed an opportunity to explore other literary forms particularly prevalent in Islamist-populism and violent extremism. Yet from Prophet Mohammed’s jihad in ancient Arabia to contemporary jihadi movements such as ISIS and Boko Haram, poems continue to play an integral role in the populist message of jihad. Arguing that the sustained use of poetry, indeed its resurgence in contemporary jihad, indicates its continued relevance as a literary form within the context of violent extremism and other forms of violent social movements, the study interrogates the strategic value of poetry over other serious or ‘hard’ literary forms.

With no existing scholarly work of this kind, this study uses the combined methods of qualitative discourse analysis and quantitative Computer Assisted Textual Analysis to study the jihadi poetry of the18th Century Sokoto Jihad in the West African Sahel, a movement which continues to serve as both inspiration and reference for contemporary jihadists in the region. It juxtaposes this set of poems against the similar use of poetry by Nigeria’s foremost extremist group, Boko Haram, in its decade-long violence against the state. This study proposes that leaders of popular jihadi movements adopt poems for purposes that converge under three main themes: emotional, ideological, and practical. Firstly, as an emotive tool and combined with the use of vivid imagery and hyperbole, messaging has deeper penetration within the society, especially among younger populations. Secondly, poetry provides a frame through which ideologies are propagated and group identities are formed. Given its emotive structure, poems highlight the victim/perpetrator dichotomy, with the “us versus them” narratives often reduced to discourses of “mujahidin (jihadists) versus kufr (unbelievers).” Thirdly, jihadi poems also have practical uses, such as: for propaganda; for historical and biographical documentation; and to append legitimacy on the group and its leaders. These findings are relevant, both as scholarly contribution to this expanding field and as a measure to help shape counter-narrative policy making.

Author

• Elor Nkereuwem, Johns Hopkins University SAIS