State Power and the Spectacle of Death: Violence, Impunity and Martyrdom in Fatima Bhutto’s Memoir “The Hour of the Wolf”
Journal Article: State Power and the Spectacle of Death: Violence, Impunity and Martyrdom in Fatima Bhutto’s Memoir “The Hour of the Wolf”
Journal: Qualitative Research Journal for Social Studies, a scholarly publication dedicated to advancing the understanding of human behavior and societal phenomena through qualitative research methodologies. The journal serves as a platform for researchers, academics, and practitioners to contribute original and insightful qualitative studies in various fields within the social sciences, and can be found here.
Date of Publication: March 3, 2026
Authors: Mudassar Javed Baryar, PhD Scholar English Literature, Department of Languages and Literature, The University of Faisalabad
Prof. Dr. Nailah Riaz, HOD English Language and Literature, The University of Faisalabad
How to Cite: Baryar, M.J.; Riaz, N. State Power and the Spectacle of Death: Violence, Impunity and Martyrdom in Fatima Bhutto’s Memoir “The Hour of the Wolf.” Qualitative Research Journal for Social Studies. 2026;3(1):357-366. DOI: https://doi.org/10.63878/qrjs845
Abstract: This article examines the problem of state violence and institutional impunity in Pakistan through a close textual analysis of Fatima Bhutto’s memoir “The Hour of the Wolf.” It argues that political violence in Pakistan is not an institutional failure but a recurring mode of governance in which law is selectively suspended, accountability is indefinitely deferred, and death is symbolically managed through public narratives of martyrdom. To conceptualize this process, the article develops an original theoretical framework, the Exception-Martyrdom Apparatus, by integrating Giorgio Agamben’s notion of the state of exception with Judith Butler’s theory of grievability. Drawing on sustained close readings of the memoir, the study demonstrates how violence is administratively coordinated, how impunity is produced through delay and silence, and how martyrdom functions as a form of political eyewash that substitutes moral reverence for justice. Rather than offering narrative closure, “The Hour of the Wolf” exposes the structural conditions that allow political killing to persist without accountability. The article positions the memoir as a critical counter-archive of state power and contributes to South Asian Studies by reframing impunity as governance rather than breakdown.
A PDF version of the article can be accessed here.
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