The Anashid of the Islamic State: Influence, History, Text, and Sound

Jonathan Pieslak and Nelly Lahoud

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2020, vol. 43, issue 4, 274-299

Abstract: This article examines the rise of the Islamic State (IS) through its anashid (a cappella), analyzing their lyrics and their musical attributes such as sonic elements, pitch, and harmony, among others. It focuses on key themes that define the group's lyrics and traces the evolution of anashid production and use—an evolution that began with the IS borrowing existing jihad-themed anashid to articulate its message and accompany its video messaging, and led to a far more developed and sophisticated sonic identity in the form of internally produced, group-specific anashid. The IS's claims to legitimacy as the caliphate are sounded out in the group's anashid. The recurring appearance of propaganda in the form of anashid and videos builds a strong case for the genre's significance among the highly complex factors catalyzing an individual's involvement in carrying out violence, especially among recent attacks within Western countries in the name of IS.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/1057610X.2018.1457420 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:uterxx:v:43:y:2020:i:4:p:274-299

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/uter20

DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2018.1457420

Access Statistics for this article

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism is currently edited by Bruce Hoffman

More articles in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().