Remembering Martyrs

Abstract

“Remembering Martyrs” explores ritual practices of visualizing death and resurrection to analyze the internal dynamics of communal self-representation vis-à-vis the Egyptian state. This chapter analyzes the Two Saints' Martyrs, the victims of the 2011 bombing in Alexandria, whose collective memory catalyzed emblematic performances of Christian-Muslim unity calling for Mubarak's resignation. Martyrs' relics incorporate the laity into the body politic of divine sacrifice, transmit signs of papal authority, and set moral limits to the clerical hierarchy. At the heart of this chapter is the question of communal transformation and political accountability for violence.