Visual Motifs in Islamist Terrorism: Applying Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Abstract This article examines visual motifs in Islamist terrorism based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory, a theory using three key categories of metaphors (structural, orientational, and ontological metaphors). These metaphors are applied to three case studies to show how visual motifs can be used by Islamists to manipulate their audiences. The case studies are the symbols of (a) the waterfall, (b) the hand, and (c) the color black. Overall, in this analysis, an essential deduction from Islamist visual motifs is that metaphors are a principal conceptual system for Islamists. Metaphors are their main conduit for categorizing what they see in their universe and how they perceive both their in-group members and outside groups (e.g., infidels).

[1]  Ahmed Achrati.  HAND AND FOOT SYMBOLISMS: FROM ROCK ART TO THE QUR' ĀN , 2003 .

[2]  Francisco José Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez,et al.  The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: Myths, Developments and Challenges , 2011 .

[3]  John McCary,et al.  The Anbar Awakening: An Alliance of Incentives , 2009 .

[4]  A. El-Zein.  Islam, Arabs, and the Intelligent World of the Jinn , 2009 .

[5]  J. Conger.  Inspiring others: the language of leadership , 1991 .

[6]  Dee G. Appley.  Beyond Culture , 1977 .

[7]  John Waterworth,et al.  Creativity and Sensation: The Case for Synaesthetic Media , 1997 .

[8]  Bess Allen Donaldson.  The wild rue : a study of Muhammadan magic and folklore in Iran , 1939, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies.

[9]  Virginie André,et al.  ‘Neojihadism’ 1 and YouTube: Patani Militant Propaganda Dissemination and Radicalization , 2012 .

[10]  H. Tajfel,et al.  An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. , 1979 .

[11]  J. Dickie.  THE MUGHAL GARDEN: GATEWAY TO PARADISE , 1985 .

[12]  G. Lakoff,et al.  Conceptual Metaphor in Everyday Language , 1980, Shaping Entrepreneurship Research.

[13]  D. Cook.  Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic , 2002 .

[14]  F. Nuessel.  More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor , 1990 .

[15]  A. McBride,et al.  Armies of the Muslim Conquest , 1993 .

[16]  Michael A. Gross,et al.  Meaning in Organizational Communication , 2008 .

[17]  J. L. Lemke,et al.  More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor , 1992 .

[18]  Eve Bearne,et al.  Rethinking literacy: communication, representation and text , 2003 .

[19]  K. Blankinship,et al.  The End of the jihād state: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads@@@The End of the jihad state: The Reign of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads , 1996 .

[20]  J. Brookes.  Gardens of paradise: the history and design of the great Islamic gardens. , 1987 .

[21]  M. Ilyas,et al.  Lunar Crescent Visibility Criterion and Islamic Calendar , 1994 .

[22]  Jessika Eichel,et al.  The Grammar Of Ornament , 2016 .

[23]  G. Gow.  Spatial Metaphor in the Work of Marshall McLuhan , 2001 .

[24]  Amanda Rogers.  Warding off terrorism and revolution: Moroccan religious pluralism, national identity and the politics of visual culture , 2012 .

[25]  G. Lakoff,et al.  Metaphors We Live by , 1982 .

[26]  R. King.  The quest for paradise: A history of the world's gardens , 1979 .

[27]  Stephen C. Bronack,et al.  Designing Virtual Worlds to Facilitate Meaningful Communication : Issues , Considerations , and Lessons Learned , 2008 .

[28]  Daphne Burdman,et al.  Education, indoctrination, and incitement: Palestinian children on their way to martyrdom , 2003 .

[29]  J. Renard.  All the King's Falcons: Rumi on Prophets and Revelation , 1994 .

[30]  M. Khansari,et al.  The Persian Garden: Echoes of Paradise , 1998 .

[31]  Sussan Babaie.  Voices of Authority: Locating the "Modern" in "Islamic" Arts , 2011, Getty Research Journal.