The Invisibilities of Political Torture: The Presence of Absence in US and Chilean Cinema and Television

by Berenike Jung

Overview

By casting a wider net on the definition of torture, the author promotes a radical, theoretical reframing of our concept of torture and suggests that audiovisual products can help broaden our comprehension of torture as an event which includes collective and emotional dimensions and long-term social effects.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474436991
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	07/08/2020
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr Berenike Jung is a lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London. Previously, she worked as a research fellow at the Institute of Media Studies in Tübingen. She received her PhD in Film and Television Studies from the University of Warwick in 2016.

Table of Contents

Introduction The Image of TortureWhy Torture NowAccountability, Impunity, AmnestyThinking through Torture with MoviesMatter and Form

Chapter 1 Visible Torture. The Case of Zero Dark ThirtyThe Torture DebatesDouble BindsThe Torturers and Us

Chapter 2 Witnessing Torture & Mediated Witnessing in War on Terror filmsWitness Politics and failing witnessesCrossing over to the Dark SideVisual Regimes

Chapter 3 Television Torture, made in USA24: Torture on RepeatHomeland A Crisis of Epistemology

Chapter 4 Television Torture, made in Chile Los Archivos del CardenalMemory Formations Los 80: Media memories on television

Chapter 5 Negotiating EvidenceThe Abu Ghraib ImagesThe Unknown KnownsStandard Operating Procedure

Chapter 6 The Presence of Absence in Contemporary Chilean CinemaSocial HauntingsThe Absent SignifierSensual Visualities: Sound, Breath and Touch

Chapter 7 The Politics of Realist Aesthetics in Chilean Cinema Santiago ’73: Post MortemTony ManeroLa Danza de la Realidad

Chapter 8 Cinema as Poetic ArchiveRe-thinking Indexicality Nostalgia de la luzNO

ConclusionThe Invisibilities of Torture in US and Chilean CinemaThe Politics of AffectEpistemological Quests The Spectator and the Torture of Others

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

John King. Author of Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America

This strikingly original, engagingly written work adopts an illuminating transnational approach to explore representations of torture across a wide range of US and Chilean film and television sources. It combines, seamlessly, close textual analysis with historical contexts, viewed through the lens of contemporary political, philosophical and cultural theories. It provides urgent, eloquent arguments for understanding and compassion.

David Martin-Jones

This excellent book grabs and holds the reader from the very first sentence. Jung’s extremely clear and compelling argument offers illuminating insight into the Twenty-first Century’s audio-visual obsessions with torture. With exemplary analysis of some of the key films and television shows of recent years, The Invisibilities of Political Torture speaks directly to a world where the rights expected of democracy seem once again to teeter uncertainly. Whether we learn the lessons of World War Two, the Cold War and the war on terror, or whether the reach of state terror expands once again, how we comprehend the role of torture in our society through film and television will be integral to our future.

Editorial Reviews

This excellent book grabs and holds the reader from the very first sentence. Jung’s extremely clear and compelling argument offers illuminating insight into the Twenty-first Century’s audio-visual obsessions with torture. With exemplary analysis of some of the key films and television shows of recent years, The Invisibilities of Political Torture speaks directly to a world where the rights expected of democracy seem once again to teeter uncertainly. Whether we learn the lessons of World War Two, the Cold War and the war on terror, or whether the reach of state terror expands once again, how we comprehend the role of torture in our society through film and television will be integral to our future.

David Martin-Jones

This strikingly original, engagingly written work adopts an illuminating transnational approach to explore representations of torture across a wide range of US and Chilean film and television sources. It combines, seamlessly, close textual analysis with historical contexts, viewed through the lens of contemporary political, philosophical and cultural theories. It provides urgent, eloquent arguments for understanding and compassion.

John King. Author of Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America