The Political Manifestation of Death in Sudan: A Reading in Destiny and Fate

Far removed from a narrative review of the literature on the philosophy of death, a subject that has long been of concern to philosophers and continues to be so, this study goes deeply into death in the context of the symbolism of contemporary Sudan, and in particular its connection with the politics of that county and its political history, since death is manifest in it in many forms, tangible and symbolic, and its many causes. The main question of the paper is that while death is undoubtedly a social phenomenon, what will we come up with if we handle it as a political phenomenon? The answers come from revisiting the political effect of death (with the death of a political leader or his political end without his biological end) on the course of events in Sudan, most importantly war, which no sooner ends than erupts again, or calms down only to flare up again, in a cycle where death is pivotal. Death controls the creation of peace, since strangely many Sudanese government negotiators have met their deaths in the final stage of talks with armed movements against the central Sudanese government and before the peace deal is signed.

Download Article Download Issue Subscribe for a year

Abstract

Zoom

Far removed from a narrative review of the literature on the philosophy of death, a subject that has long been of concern to philosophers and continues to be so, this study goes deeply into death in the context of the symbolism of contemporary Sudan, and in particular its connection with the politics of that county and its political history, since death is manifest in it in many forms, tangible and symbolic, and its many causes. The main question of the paper is that while death is undoubtedly a social phenomenon, what will we come up with if we handle it as a political phenomenon? The answers come from revisiting the political effect of death (with the death of a political leader or his political end without his biological end) on the course of events in Sudan, most importantly war, which no sooner ends than erupts again, or calms down only to flare up again, in a cycle where death is pivotal. Death controls the creation of peace, since strangely many Sudanese government negotiators have met their deaths in the final stage of talks with armed movements against the central Sudanese government and before the peace deal is signed.

References