Title: The aesthetics of violence in contemporary media /
Authors: Symonds, Gwyn.
Publisher: Continuum,
Year: 2008
Subjects: Violence in mass media; Mass media Aesthetics; Mass media Audiences
Abstract: "The topic of violence in the media has been very widely covered. Countless studies and research projects have been conducted, most of which argue its negative effects on society. Gwyn Symonds takes this significant topic one step further: studying the aesthetics of media violence. By defining key terms like the "graphic" nature and "authenticity" of violent representations, and discussing how those definitions are linked to actual violence outside the film and television screen, Symonds demonstrates that the debate on the effects of violence cannot be conducted without recognizing the vast generic and textual variety that characterizes the representation of violence in contemporary media.
Contents: "Violence at the speed of live" : the televirtuality of 9/11 and rebuking the frame of (re)presentation -- "We can't believe it's not butter" : polemical violence and faking authenticity -- "It is a true story but it might not have happened" : voyeurism and fiction in the true crime narrative -- Show business or dirty business? : the theatrics of mafia narrative and empathy for the last mob boss standing in The Sopranos -- "Solving problems with sharp objects" : female empowerment, sex, and violence in Buffy, the vampire slayer -- "Getting kicks from action pix" : righteous violence and the choreographed body in f(l)ight -- "It's just detail" : flaying the sacred and prosthetic, pixilated and animated violence in the hyperreal.