Martyrdom in Contemporary Animalist Discourses

Abstract

Is it possible to use the notion of martyrdom in order to explain the communicative strategies and the semiotic mechanisms of the animalist movement? Is the animal a sort of contemporary martyr? This study aims to apply the notion of martyrdom outside the traditional boundaries of religion and politics, testing it in another relevant socio–cultural phenomenon: the contemporary animalist discourse. This paper analyses texts from animalist advertising, essays and novels promoting animal rights and vegetarianism. The main features of the traditional notion of martyrdom are compared to the semiotic structures of the animalist discourse. The questions of the efficacy of images and that of the exhibition of corporeity will be very relevant in defining the relation between martyrdom and representation of animals in the animalist discourse. In particular, the connection between the construction of the veracity of texts and martyrdom as testimony will be addressed during the analysis.