Martyrdom as a “Reputational Project”: Who and How “Makes” the Martyrs

Abstract

The article deals with the theoretical and empirical development of a model within the framework of the constructivist theory of martyrdom: the analysis of martyrdom as a “reputational project”. Within this general theory, martyrdom is considered not as an objective event of someone's violent death for certain beliefs, but as its interpretation - a post-factum created narrative anchored in the collective memory of the community. This means that martyrs are rather “made” than “appear”. The author's conceptualization of martyrdom as a reputational project focuses on the individual or collective subject of this narrative (a “reputational entrepreneur” in the terminology of sociologist Gary A. Fine); on the raw material, symbolic and human resources available to them, as well as specific situational prerequisites for the project to succeed or fail. The article proposes a three-part typology of entrepreneurs and exemplifies each type with case studies. These are (1) “autobiographical” entrepreneurs, who initiate a project concerning themselves; (2) “biographers”, who initiate a project concerning someone else; (3) “diffuse” entrepreneur, which is a collective entity. Finally, the article analyzes the cases where a reputational project was initiated but failed or turned out to be unclaimed, leaving a person unrecognized as a legitimate martyr. Stemming from some case studies, the author makes assumptions on why some such projects succeed, while others failed, and also, why some martyrs become more popular than others. At the end of the article, there is a list of the main prerequisites and circumstances that affect the outcome of the project: the quality of the original hagiographic data; its conformity with an established religious tradition; the presence or absence of a decent “cause, ” for which the martyr allegedly died; the request from a community; the entrepreneur's personality; and possible contestations from opponents or deniers of martyrdom. Particular attention is paid to problematic phenomena beyond religious traditions or on their margins, like “political” martyrdom.