Abstract
The paper addresses three sets of questions: What is the semantic reach of the term “sleeper” and what ambiguities derive from the divergent contexts and genres within which the term has been used? What is the link between sleepers and secrecy, and how do terrorist sleepers interfere with the culturally accepted workings of secrecy in social and political life? What narratives are set lose when sleepers reveal themselves in unexpected action? The paper is guided by Georg Simmel’s recognition of secrecy’s role in social life and seeks to demonstrate the problematic encounter of multiple codes of secrecy in culturally heterogeneous societies.
How to Cite
Bendix, R., (2003) “Sleepers’ Secrets, Actors’ Revelations”, Ethnologia Europaea 33(2), 33-42. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ee.948
Publisher Notes
- This article was previously published by Museum Tusculanum Press.