ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the practices related to the commemoration of martyrdom in the aftermath of the Bahraini Arab Spring in February 2011. It examines online commemoration of martyrdom in Bahrain in relation to the Arab Spring events, its aesthetics and its functions. The aesthetics of martyrdom depicted on the social media of the pro-government and anti-government groups in Bahrain strike by their explicit graphic content. The new media play multiple functions among these communities separated by their political loyalties. Martyrs continue their daily presence among the community through commemorations of their anniversaries and through theatrical re-enactments. While forming a vital part of Shia beliefs, martyrdom motivates the living to continue the revolutionary struggle for which the martyrs sacrificed their lives. The online aesthetics testify to the importance of martyrdom for the opposition communities and the authors agree with Cook that martyrdom is in large part advertisement; in the case of Bahrain, an advertisement for the political struggle against the monarchy.
