Technologies Of Immortality, "Good Endings", And Martyrdom In Urban Egypt

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Published In

Ethnos

Abstract

Taking the deaths of two young Egyptian men as its starting point, this paper traces ‘technologies of immortality’ and the possibilities they promise to the deceased and their status in the grave and afterlife. Extending Foucault's notion of ‘technologies of the self’ beyond its this-worldly focus, technologies of immortality aim to account for the rituals, practices, discourses, and images generated by community members to positively impact the fate of the deceased. Looking closely at ‘death narratives’, their repetition, circulation, and anticipated effects, I explore how the living collectively and performatively produce martyrs and their good endings in Cairo, Egypt.

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