Suicide Bombers as Women Warriors: Making News Through Mythical Archetypes

Abstract

This study explores how mythical archetypes become a journalistic tool for reporting news about terrorism. Textual analysis of newspaper items examined coverage about seven female Palestinian suicide bombers. Mythical archetypes changed initially from the male suicide bomber as Trickster, to female bomber as Woman Warrior, and finally, to the Terrible Mother when the circumstances of the seventh suicide bomber no longer fit the Woman Warrior mold. Findings suggest that journalists negotiate their reporting within two realms—realities of occurrences and resonance of myths—to accomplish their work.