The Invisibilities of Political Torture : : The Presence of Absence in US and Chilean Cinema and Television / / Berenike Jung.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2020
• VerfasserIn: Jung, Berenike,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.) :; 32 B/W illustrations

Examines the ways in which moving images can help us better understand factual political tortureExamines role of images and film in (mis)understanding of tortureOffers synergised knowledge through comparative angle, exploring differences and continuities of torture cases which were documented to vastly different extentsIncludes key popular movies, independent films as well as serial televisionCombines serious film analysis with ethical-political questions and historically and theoretically informed researchExpands on the latest developments of comparative media scholarship, and integrates the nostalgic, material and affective turn" Academic work on the subject of torture tends to mirror public debates on its presumed utility, to focus on its historically ‘correct’ representation or on profilmic structures of identification. This book moves beyond these ideologically charged questions to explore how contemporary films have responded to a growing popular distrust in visual evidence when referencing factual cases of torture. Two cases studies – the United States around 2004 and Chile from 1973 until the end of the dictatorship – provide either an abundance or lack of such visual evidence. Drawing on films and television series such as Zero Dark Thirty (2012), NO (2012), Homeland (2011–) and Los 80 (2008–14), amongst many others, this book analyses the visible components of torture but also its invisibilities.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."

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. Visible Torture: The Case of Zero Dark Thirty -- 2. Witnessing Torture, and Mediated Witnessing in War-on-Terror Films -- 3. Television Torture, Made in the USA -- 4. Television Torture, Made in Chile -- 5. Negotiating Evidence -- 6. The Presence of Absence in Contemporary -- 7. The Politics of Realism in Chilean Cinema -- 8. Cinema as Poetic Archive -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Filmography -- Index