Global corpse politics : the obscenity taboo /
Auchter, Jessica,author.
"Visualizing Corpse Politics Jessica Auchter Several years ago, when the images of Syrian torture victims' dead bodies were released by a photographer who had worked for the Syrian security forces and defected, I printed them out on a communal office printer, since my individual office printer did not print in color. I wanted to have them as a reference to go back to, and given the uncertainty of internet links, I didn't want to rely on being able to access them again online. In fact, having followed the publication of dead body images as an area of academic study for quite some time, I was also concerned that over the following days, the pictures would be removed from public access due to their graphic nature, the same way beheading images had been removed from online platforms and rescinded by media publications, the 9/11 falling body images had steadily been removed over time as they became considered too obscene to be seen (Auchter 2014), and some news outlets determined after the fact that in the name of propriety, they should not have published the image of dead Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi (Papailias 2019, 1054). In working on this project, then, I wanted a printed record of these images coming out of Syria to refer back to later, to examine for the evidence they provided of the atrocities carried out by the Syrian government"--
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Visualization corpse politics -- Horrifically graphic: the obscene corpse -- The visual politics of ISIS beheadings -- Dead terrorists and dead dictators -- Proof of death: evidence and atrocity -- Displaying the dead body: some conclusions.
"Visualizing Corpse Politics Jessica Auchter Several years ago, when the images of Syrian torture victims' dead bodies were released by a photographer who had worked for the Syrian security forces and defected, I printed them out on a communal office printer, since my individual office printer did not print in color. I wanted to have them as a reference to go back to, and given the uncertainty of internet links, I didn't want to rely on being able to access them again online. In fact, having followed the publication of dead body images as an area of academic study for quite some time, I was also concerned that over the following days, the pictures would be removed from public access due to their graphic nature, the same way beheading images had been removed from online platforms and rescinded by media publications, the 9/11 falling body images had steadily been removed over time as they became considered too obscene to be seen (Auchter 2014), and some news outlets determined after the fact that in the name of propriety, they should not have published the image of dead Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi (Papailias 2019, 1054). In working on this project, then, I wanted a printed record of these images coming out of Syria to refer back to later, to examine for the evidence they provided of the atrocities carried out by the Syrian government"--
International relations
Torture in mass media.
Collective memory
Social conflict in mass media.
Corpse politics