Borders, Barriers and Grievable Lives
Based on a close reading of Ridley Scott’s war film Black Hawk Down (USA 2001; BHD), the present article investigates the formal properties through which a certain strain of war and action movies discursively constitutes the other – the enemy – as less than human. I develop the argument that the eme...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sciendo
2011-11-01
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| Series: | Nordicom Review |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0114 |
| _version_ | 1797712514406940672 |
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| author | Pötzsch Holger |
| author_facet | Pötzsch Holger |
| author_sort | Pötzsch Holger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Based on a close reading of Ridley Scott’s war film Black Hawk Down (USA 2001; BHD), the present article investigates the formal properties through which a certain strain of war and action movies discursively constitutes the other – the enemy – as less than human. I develop the argument that the emergent relation between friend and foe in these films can be read through the concept of the border as an epistemological barrier that keeps the other incomprehensible, inaccessible, and ultimately ungrievable. Having demonstrated how BHD sets up such epistemological barriers, I widen my focus and show that similar formal properties can be found in other audio-visual media, such as video games or news items. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:22:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-09e31210ce354f59adcb2006eacb3b32 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2001-5119 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:22:53Z |
| publishDate | 2011-11-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordicom Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-09e31210ce354f59adcb2006eacb3b322023-09-02T22:16:44ZengSciendoNordicom Review2001-51192011-11-01322759410.1515/nor-2017-0114Borders, Barriers and Grievable LivesPötzsch Holger0M.A., Research Fellow, Department of Culture and Literature, Tromsø UniversityBased on a close reading of Ridley Scott’s war film Black Hawk Down (USA 2001; BHD), the present article investigates the formal properties through which a certain strain of war and action movies discursively constitutes the other – the enemy – as less than human. I develop the argument that the emergent relation between friend and foe in these films can be read through the concept of the border as an epistemological barrier that keeps the other incomprehensible, inaccessible, and ultimately ungrievable. Having demonstrated how BHD sets up such epistemological barriers, I widen my focus and show that similar formal properties can be found in other audio-visual media, such as video games or news items.https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0114mediawarfilmgamesmilitainmentblack hawk down |
| spellingShingle | Pötzsch Holger Borders, Barriers and Grievable Lives Nordicom Review media war film games militainment black hawk down |
| title | Borders, Barriers and Grievable Lives |
| title_full | Borders, Barriers and Grievable Lives |
| title_fullStr | Borders, Barriers and Grievable Lives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Borders, Barriers and Grievable Lives |
| title_short | Borders, Barriers and Grievable Lives |
| title_sort | borders barriers and grievable lives |
| topic | media war film games militainment black hawk down |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0114 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT potzschholger bordersbarriersandgrievablelives |