Ulrike Meinhof and the Red Army Faction Performing Terrorism

by Passmore, Leith

• ISBN13: 9780230337473
• ISBN10: 0230337473
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-10-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Ulrike Meinhof's entrance into the West German terrorist underground was both a footnote to the waning student movement of the late 1960s, and a preamble to the bloodiest period in Germany's post-war history. Meinhof fought to make herself heard as a high-profile journalist before becoming a founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in 1970. She continued writing in the underground and from 1972, in prison, until she was found dead in her cell in 1976. Leith Passmore traces Meinhof's struggle to communicate from her time as a journalist, through her escape to the underground, her prison years, and the Stammheim trial. He examines for the first time the performativity of terrorist acts of language, imagery, and physical violence to reveal how Meinhof made and re-made RAF terrorism.

Author Biography

Leith Passmore is a historian. He holds a doctorate in History and German Studies from the University of Western Australia.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Performing Terrorism * Where Words Fail * Writing Under Ground * The Art of Hunger * Show, Trial, and Error * SUICIDE = MURDER = SUICIDE * Conclusion: Voices and Echoes