Beslan: Six Stories of the Siege

This book is the first, sustained close reading of Russian-language online media accounts of the 2004 Beslan school siege, now seen as a vital turning point in Russia's approach to terrorism and in the Putin/Medvedev presidencies. It investigates the reportage of the hostage-taking published by three very different websites: RIA-Novosti, a large, Russian state-controlled news agency; Kavkazcenter, the major site of the Chechen armed resistance; and Caucasian Knot, founded by Memorial, the internationally acclaimed Russian human rights NGO. By tracking the ways in which these three sites constructed six different reports relating, and responding to, what happened at Beslan, even as events were still taking place, this book is an investigation of material that has never before been subjected to scholarly analysis in this depth and to such a systematic degree. By covering both Russian and English reports, the book also considers issues of translation, particularly in regard to online publishing, and ways in which translation impacts on the reconstruction of these narratives. Working from the premises that narratives do not merely represent but constitute reality, are fundamental to human agency, and are used to account for, legitimise, and challenge behaviour and the practices of institutions, the book also reflects on the potential for certain kinds of narratives to either perpetuate or dissolve violent political conflict, a discussion that is relevant not just for Beslan and for Russia, but for those involved in other violent, seemingly intractable, conflicts across the world, and for those who would undo them.