“We Are Farkhunda”: Geographies of Violence, Protest, and Performance

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/articles/kk91fn132

Abstract

The iconic image of Farkhunda—bloodied, beaten, and pleading for assistance—went viral in March 2015, emblematic of the unfathomable attack and brutal murder of a young woman, a religious student, in broad daylight, in the center of Kabul, Afghanistan. First accused of burning the Qur’an and later exonerated, Farkhunda was transformed from a person to a martyr to a symbol personifying multiple and disparate ideologies. The posthumous proclamation of her innocence positioned her as the perfect victim, ripe for multiple forms of sociopolitical claiming. The spectacles of her death, her funeral, the protests following the act, and the reenactment of her murder imbue her death with meaning while problematically erasing the ordinariness of her life. Drawing on feminist political geography and analysis of gendered violence in Afghanistan, we discuss the social and political geographies of place, embodiment, grief, violence, protest, and performance. Through interviews and content analysis of media coverage, this essay provides sociocultural context and social reflections on the murder, funeral, protests, and dramatic reenactment of Farkhunda’s death. Analyses of these public events elucidate the gendered geographies of embodied and performative expressions of anger, sorrow, and empathy.

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