Status : Verified
| Personal Name | Duero, Mary Jocel H. |
|---|---|
| Resource Title | How are martyrs made?: critical discourse analysis of martyrdom in the Facebook commemoration of activists slain during the Duterte regime |
| Date Issued | 13 June 2025 |
| Abstract | Coupled with the government’s repressive policies, the intensification of red-tagging against civil society activists—particularly those from National Democratic Mass Organizations (NDMOs)—legitimized and enabled former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on activism, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of activists during his term. Beyond death, slain activists are venerated as martyrs by NDMOs. This study asks how NDMOs specifically construct the discourse of martyrdom around activists killed under Duterte. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) integrated with theories of Embodied Martyrdom, Political Martyrdom, and Necropolitics, I analyzed commemorative Facebook posts about Chad Booc, Josephine Lapira, Emmanuel Asuncion, Randall Echanis, and Zara Alvarez; conducted interviews with five NDMO leaders and members; and examined the corpus of public comments. Findings show how NDMOs symbolically constructed martyrs as negotiative embodiments of both victimhood under state violence and empowered agents of change. Ultimately, martyr commemoration as discursive practice counters state narratives, sustains collective memory, and mobilizes resistance. Platformized repression on Facebook through algorithmic constraints, state censorship, and coordinated troll attacks was also explored. In an era where life at the margins is rendered disposable, martyrized commemoration asserts the right to memory, resistance, and the dignity of life. |
| Degree Course | BA Communication Research |
| Language | English |
| Keyword | Critical Discourse Analysis; martyrdom; digital commemoration; activism; necropolitics |
| Material Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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