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Towards a theory of projectilic media: Notes on Islamic State’s Deployment of Fire

Sat, May 26, 9:30 to 10:45, Hilton Prague, Floor: L, Barcelona

Abstract

Islamic State’s presents an auspicious opportunity to revisit the ontology of digital imagery. Much of the work on Islamic State’s propaganda has (1) emerged from think-tanks interested in issues of terrorism and national security, (2) focused on social media as engines of networked transmission, and (3) emphasized representational approached concerned with deciphering signs, quantifying output, and discerning ideology. In contrast, this paper elaborates a theory of projectilic media grounded in theories of phenomenology (Hansen), affect (Massumi) and spectacle (Debord), with the body as conceptual linchpin. Drawn from a book project casting Islamic State as a war machine (Deleuze & Guattari, 1986), this paper builds on recent publications, based on a close readings of Islamic State textual and visual primary sources, on the role of territoriality (Kraidy, 2016, 2017a, b, c, d), imagery, hypermedia, and spectacle, in Islamic State’s production of what I call “global networked affect.” It examines Islamic State’s mediation of Self and Other through fire. To accomplish this goal, I examine three primary sources: first, a 55-minute, 13-second Islamic State “documentary,” Flames of War, released in September 2014; second, a shorter video showcasing new French recruits of Islamic State seated around a bonfire, in which they throw their passports to burn; third, the infamous Healing the Believers’ Chests, which shows the staged immolation of a caged Jordanian air force pilot captured by Islamic State.
Grounding the analysis in Gaston Bachelard seminal analysis of fire (Bachelard, 1945 & 1961) and building on work on elemental media (Peters, 2015), I theorize fire as projectilic media. First, I argue that Islamic state uses fire as metonymy of the war machine, ie Islamic State itself; second, I argue that fire, for Islamic State, is a stylistic device that orient bodies towards specific affective-imaginative practices; third, I show how Islamic State deploys fire as projectilic digital images whose chief characteristic is speed and major impact is bodily harm. The conclusion connects these three aspects, showing how fire is a key medium to define Self, Other and the embodied relationship between them.

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