The Spectacle of Terrorism: Exploring the Notions of ‘Blind Acting Out’ and ‘Phatic Communication’

Abstract

The present paper proposes the parallels between ‘staged’ incidences of terrorism and ‘spectacular public disorder’ as a supplementary reading of terrorism. I claim that, while the spectacular in both is not par se- or even an exhaustive- account of how terrorism functions, there is an aspect of what the French philosopher Alain Badiou) has referred to as Passage a l’acte (‘blind acting out’)- coined apropos of the 2006 Paris riots- which should exercise our attention. The methodology of passage a l’acte is to draw maximum attention to an issue by letting the extended post-attack coverage ‘do the talking’. The article also shows how ‘phatic communication’, a term coined by Malinowski, is an important component of passage a l’acte