@article {1297,
	title = {Mediated Martyrs of the Arab Spring: New Media, Civil Religion, and Narrative in Tunisia and Egypt},
	journal = {Journal of Communication},
	volume = {63},
	year = {2013},
	chapter = {312},
	abstract = {This article analyzes the emergence of nationalist martyr narratives and their dissemination via new media as forces for social mobilization and political change. Situating them in the religio-historical contexts of North Africa, we trace martyr narratives in Tunisia and Egypt back to pre-Islamic periods and compare them to the contemporary stories of Mohamed Bouazizi and Khaled Saeed. This reveals the impact of new media on the region, evident in {\textquotedblleft}virtual reliquaries,{\textquotedblright} and the role that martyr narratives play as catalysts in social mobilization. The trajectory of the martyr narrative from the traditional religious context to the state-driven concept of civil religion allows for the political dimension of narratives resident within the religious context to surface in the contemporary discursive moment.},
	keywords = {Civil Religion, Egypt, martyr narratives, Narrative, New Media, political change, Tunisia, virtual reliquaries},
	url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcom.12017/abstract;jsessionid=E24465C217B6F163E3838A3BAC3882B9.f01t01?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=\&userIsAuthenticated=false},
	author = {Jeffry R. Halverson and Scott W. Ruston and Angela Trethewey}
}
