Revenge Without Rules: On the Renaissance of an Archaic Motif of Violence

• Published in: Studies in conflict and terrorism Vol. 24; no. 6; pp. 435 - 450
• Main Author: Waldmann, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Informa UK Ltd 01.11.2001; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Albania; Boyacá (department), Colombia; Colombia; Conflict; Conflict resolution; Conflict theory; Feuds; International relations; Justice; Modern Society; Renaissance; Revenge; Social aspects; Social conditions; Social justice; Social research; Social Segmentation; Society; Terrorist organizations; Traditional Societies; Violence; Colombia; Albania
• ISSN: 1057-610X; 1521-0731
• DOI: 10.1080/105761001753210470

The revenge mentality and desire for revenge only play a subordinate role in the social sciences' present discussion concerning violence. Hardly a contribution to the recent published collections on topics of violence concerns itself with the theme of revenge (see Von Trotha 1997; Koehler and Heyer 1998; Sieferle and Breuninger 1998). A similar situation holds true in the arts. Furthermore, as Susan Jacoby has shown, above all in literature (Jacoby 1985, 14 ff.). While revenge, fed by passion or cold calculation, was one of its classic topics, beginning with the 'Iliad' and the 'Nibelungenlied' through the Shakespearean dramas to the novels of the 19th century (one is reminded, for example, of 'Les Miserables' by Victor Hugo), it has practically disappeared from the better contemporary literature.