“The Sound of Children Screaming Has Been Removed”  Conundrums of Silence and Violence
Channel: Anthony Collins
Date: 2023-06-13

Starting with the editorial caption in CCTV video, this analysis unpacks some of the practical and conceptual problems in representing violence and trauma. What is the work done by different ways of representing violence? How do we accurately represent the suffering of vulnerable people without vicariously traumatising our audience? How do we avoid accounts that incite further violence? What kinds of explanation are effective in motivating violence prevention and victim empowerment? This exploration works towards a framework for articulating the different types of harm that result from representing, and not representing, traumatic experiences.


"I CANNOT THINK OF ALL THE PAINS

i cannot think of all the pains in men’s breasts
without the urge to sleep, or to lie down, I cannot think
without seeing God’s face in the child’s smile,
or in the lonely cry in the night and in the sea.

i cannot think of all the pains that have come
and gone, pains in men’s waists
and in men’s shoes –
i cannot have relief proper, wearing a neat tie.

i run around in circles, like sprinkling water,
i can’t have true relief, swearing out loud
and counting out the pains in my breast,
and in my pants.

i cannot think of all the pains and all the years wasted,
all the craze of  lonely men in village rooms,
and all the bodies that lie out cold, in avoided streets-
i can’t run out old, like a joyful child

and watch a sky pregnant with pain, or with turbulent rain;
i cannot think of the soil without lying down,
i cannot think of tears, lonely geographies
and the third world, without the urge to cry or to sit down."

© 2000, Mxolisi Nyezwa
From: Song Trials
Publisher: University of Natal Press (Gecko Poetry), South Africa


In honor of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting:

Makenna Lee Elrod, 10
Layla Salazar, 11
Maranda Mathis, 11
Nevaeh Bravo, 10
Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10
Xavier Lopez, 10
Tess Marie Mata, 10
Rojelio Torres, 10
Eliahna “Ellie” Amyah Garcia, 9
Eliahna A. Torres, 10
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10
Jackie Cazares, 9
Uziyah Garcia
Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10
Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10
Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10
Irma Garcia, 48
Eva Mireles, 44
Amerie Jo Garza, 10
Alexandria “Lexi” Aniyah Rubio, 10
Alithia Ramirez, 10