A Community of Mourners: collective sentiment, national belonging and the Muslim 'Other' after the 'Sydney Siege'

Abstract

This paper analyses collective sentiment in media responses to the event known as the ‘Sydney Siege’ (December 2014), focusing on the everyday narratives about nationhood and belonging. The aim of the article is to analyse how a hostage-taking situation, represented as a terrorist act, served to reinforce the boundaries of a national community in relation to Australian Muslims. The theoretical framework draws from Ahmed’s (‘The Organization of Hate’, in Emotions: A Cultural Studies Reader, edited by J. Harding and E. D. Pribram, 251–267 (London and New York: Routledge, 2009)) concept of ‘affective economies’ and focuses on the inclusion/exclusion dynamic working through the lens of emotions...