Since the first ‘wave’ of modern terrorism, those labelled as terrorists have been publishing accounts of their lives in diverse contexts. How are we to understand this apparent will to write and publish autobiographical accounts of oneself, one’s life, and political views on the part of these individuals? What can close analysis of these often controversial, popular texts illuminate? Focussing on the case study of West German leftist armed groups active in the 1970s, Terrorism and the Self is the first monograph to explore post-terrorist autobiography as literary genre. It makes the case that post-terrorist autobiography must be taken seriously as both cultural phenomenon and crucial source of knowledge as we seek to extend understandings of militant violence and those who engage in it. It proposes an interdisciplinary feminist approach for making sense of this material, while providing in-depth, gendered analysis of the West German case study. The book will appeal to a variety of disciplines and research fields including terrorism studies, perpetrator studies, women’s and gender studies, narrative and cultural criminology, violence studies, history, literary and autobiographical studies and cultural studies.
Price: $130.00
Pages: 304
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Series: New Directions in Terrorism Studies
Publication Date:
05 January 2027
ISBN: 9781526196712
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
Autobiography: historical, political and military, Violence and abuse in society, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Terrorism, armed struggle
Clare Bielby is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York.
Before that I was lecturer in German Studies at University of Hull. In the academic year 2023–2024, I held a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship which was awarded for this monograph project.
Together with Mererid Puw Davies, I was Principal Investigator on the research project: ‘Violence Elsewhere: Imagining Violence outside Germany since 1945’ which ran from 2018–2021 and was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
Introduction
Part I: Approaches
1: Approaching post-terrorist autobiography in Germany and beyond
Part II: Narratives of violence and violent selves
Introduction
2: From terrorist ingénue to ‘uncompromising woman fighter’: Scripting women’s (non)violence
3: From guerrilla fighter to action hero: Scripting men’s (non)violence
Part III: Terrorist temporalities
Introduction
4: Terrorist time
5: ‘Doing’ history
Afterword
Select bibliography