Terrorism as a type of political communication: The use of propaganda of the deed in hegemonic struggles

Abstract

The paper focuses on the communicological dimension of the terrorist act, starting from the position that the violence is used to convey various messages in a non-verbal way. Throughout the research into the propaganda of the deed, the technique on which communicational tactics of terrorists are mostly based, the author seeks to examine extensive ranges of communication strategies used by insurgent groups against dominant hegemony. By combining the elements of Jacques Ellul's theoretical conception of propaganda along with the cultural approach in the interpretation of mechanisms in which hegemony operates, the author refutes perspectives that deny rebellions? possibilities for efficient realization of their propaganda goals by using acts of violence. The author?s conclusion is based on three arguments. Firstly, for modern propaganda, provoking the behavior of the audience (ortopraxie) is a more important goal than influencing its attitudes (orthodoxy). Secondly, it is possible to notice elements in the pre-propaganda field, which evade hegemonic control, due to the contradiction between ideological narratives and the real structure, and which insurgent propaganda may utilize. Lastly - by means of terrorist acts, their performers address different types of audiences with different goals simultaneously. The author concludes that the efficiency of propaganda can be manifested in two manners: in the short term - when an act of violence represents a direct ?trigger? for the desired behavior of the audience; in the long term - by including the act and provoked behavior in the network of memories, which becomes an element of pre-propaganda that can be referred to in the future.