The Idea
The text argues that bin Laden’s discourse draws on the reference of the Crusades to expand the conflict in temporal and symbolic terms. The issue does not stop at a specific historical event; rather, it is shifted into a broader horizon that makes enmity repeatable and recallable in the present. In this way, historical memory becomes a language of mobilization, not a material for calm understanding.
Concise Formulation
Bin Laden’s discourse: uses the reference of the Crusades to expand the conflict
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim appears in the context of the book’s critique of the use of historical symbols to intensify symbolic warfare between parties. Here, the Crusades are not merely a backdrop, but a tool for recasting the conflict as a confrontation extended across time. The text thus explains how conflict is constructed in the imagination before it is constructed in reality.
Why It Matters
Its importance lies in the fact that it reveals the ability of political and religious discourse to turn history into a symbolic weapon. This helps us understand Arkoun as a critic of the mechanisms of symbolic expansion of conflict, not only of its events. It also shows that the most dangerous aspect of violence is not the act alone, but the language that makes it sustainable.
Brief Evidence
The text argues that bin Laden’s discourse employs the reference of the Crusades to expand the conflict in temporal and symbolic terms. The issue does not stop at a specific historical event; rather, it is shifted into a broader horizon that makes enmity recallable in the present. In this way, historical memory becomes a language of mobilization.
Reading Questions
- Why does invoking the Crusades give the conflict a dimension that exceeds its original time?
- How does history, in this context, shift from knowledge to an instrument of mobilization?
Degree of Documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear passage from the book’s material.