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The Theatre of Violence: Narratives of Protagonists in the South African Conflict

Don Foster, Paul Haupt, Marésa De Beer

Capetwon; Oxford: Institute of Justice and Reconciliation; HSRC Press; James Currey (2005), xii, 364 pp.

"If the dominant media stereotype portrays perpetrators as monsters, as ‘Prime Evil’, then the dominant academic image is the opposite. It paints them as ordinary people (gender ignored, but assumed as male) diligently under sway of modern bureaucratic compartmentalisation (the banality of evil ... thesis), or as obedient to authority and conforming to social pressures (the situationist thesis). No monsters here, just ordinary people under rather extraordinary circumstances. The moral message: we co uld all potentially become perpetrators, depending on the situation. There is a competing view: the perpetrator as a willing, even eager, executioner driven by strong negative emotions against the ‘other’. The scholarly world presents us with antagonistic perspectives. What picture do we get from narrative approaches, from stories told by those actually responsible for politically-related violence? First, there are only a few narrative studies. Second, they also paint competing pictures. On the one hand, is a picture of the perpetrator as a victim – of organisational routines, hierarchies, pressures and secrecy, and of dominant ideologies, as well as brutal initiation rites which instil the practice of obedience to authority. These narrative studies support the situationist and ordinary person line of explanation. They also correct the erstwhile neglect of gender issues by placing emphasis on masculinity as an important ingredient. On the other hand, the South African storytelling studies by Marks (2001), Straker (1992) and Campbell (1992) throw up a different picture. While victims in one sense – of Bantu education, poverty and violence at the hands of both state security agents and older vigilante groups – they are also action-oriented moral crusaders in defence of their communities and in politically-minded offensive against the apartheid state and its allies. Once again, we have contrasting and competing pictures of those responsible for political violence. In these particular storytelling perspectives, differences are partly due to the different positions of protagonists across the dividing line of power: state security personnel on the one hand and resistance activists on the other. Apart from the conflicting images from varying epistemological perspectives and different theoretical angles, the very label or category of a ‘perpetrator’ is more muddied, contested and problematic than a first glance would suggest. We described seven grey areas which challenge or disrupt the dominant binaries of victim-perpetrator and the triangular view of dramatis personae: perpetrator – ‘victim’ – bystander/observer. Moreover, in Chapter 4, we raise a number of moral quandaries or dilemmas in the study of those responsible for violence, which again dislodge the simple and tidy categories. Therefore a central component of the present study aims to problematise and disrupt the complacency of the very label and category of ‘perpetrator’. What should be done? In the face of these competing images and explanations we carve out a ‘third space’ beyond, or perhaps better, between the theoretical antagonisms of situationism versus agency (willing killers); among the grey areas between category labels of victim/perpetrator/bystander. Rather than this being seen as an alternative position, it should be read as an attempt at synthesis. Instead of the oppositional pairing of ‘either-or’, it should be seen in terms of the inclusive pairing ‘both-and’ (Foster, 1999).We argue that those responsible for violence should be regarded as potentially both victim and perpetrator, as well as both subject to circumstances/influences and active initiators." (Conclusion, page 321-322) more

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(Latente) soziale Probleme und Massenmedien: Eine Untersuchung zu Problemdefinitionen und -interpretationen latenter sozialer Probleme in den Medien am Beispiel der Berichterstattung über die Kriminalität der Mächtigen in Korea

Chul Lee

Herbolzheim: Centaurus-Verlag (2005), 350 pp.

"Die Delikte, die unter den Begriff der "Kriminalität der Mächtigen zusammenzufassen sind, sind vielfältig: Menschenrechtsverletzungen, Bestechung, Steuerdelikte, und auf internationaler Ebene Spionage, Übertretungen internationaler Abkommen, Terrorakte etc. Diese Untersuchung erforscht mit Hilf ... more

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El cuerpo del delito

Germán Rey

Bogotá: Centro de Competencia en Comunicación para América Latina Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2005), 69 pp.

"¿Es la (in)seguridad ciudadana un invento mediático o una realidad? La respuesta está en este estudio del contenido de los diarios latinoamericanos sobre el tema de seguridad ciudadana desde una perspectiva cotidiana del delito. ¿Qué hace la noticia del delito? ¿Cuáles son los temas? ¿Cómo ... more

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Violence in the Media: The Extent and the Influence of Violence in the Media in Slovenia

Dragan Petrovec

Ljubljana: Peace Institute (2003), 78 pp.

"The survey analyses the reporting on violence in Slovene print and television programmes. The results have shown that POP TV programming contains a significantly greater share of violent content and content depicting accidents than the programming of SLO 1, reflecting an obvious difference in the e ... more

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Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death

Susan D. Moeller

New York; London: Routledge (1999), 390 pp.

"From outbreaks of the flesh eating viruses Ebola and Strep A, to death camps in Bosnia and massacres in Rwanda, the media seem to careen from one trauma to another, in a breathless tour of poverty, disease and death. First we're horrified, but each time they turn up the pitch, show us one image mor ... more

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O programa Gil Gomes: A justiça em ondas médias

Maria Tereza P. da Costa

Campinas: Editora da Unicamp (1992), 156 pp.

"O tema do livro é o tratamento da violência urbana na indústria da cultura. Analisa o programa policial radiofónico Gil Gomes transmitido na Rádio Record (São Paulo) entre 1977 e 1987. Além dos textos transmitidos, foram analisadas quase 3000 cartas de ouvintes, que permitem extrair conclus� ... more

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Violence et terreur dans les médias

George Gerbner

Paris: UNESCO (1989), 50 pp.

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La violencia y el terror en los medios de communicación de masas

George Gerbner

Paris: UNESCO (1989), 49 pp.

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Violence and Terror in the Mass Media: An Annotated Bibliography

Nancy Signorielli, George Gerbner (comps.)

Westport, Conn.: Greenwood (1988), 264 pp.

"Scholarly articles and books on violence and terror in the mass media comprise the bulk of this bibliography. The 784 entries are numbered, divided into sections on mass media content, mass media effects, pornography, and terrorism, then arranged alphabetically by author. Content and effects chapte ... more

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Violence and Terror in the Mass Media

George Gerbner

Nancy Signorielli (collab.)

Paris: UNESCO (1988), 45 pp.

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Verbrechen per Radio

José Wilson

In: Vom Umgang mit Gewalt

Michael Ehrke et al.

Hamburg: Junius (1985), pp. 36-40

"Radio wird hauptsächlich von Hausfrauen gehört. Die Haupteinschaltzeit liegt zwischen sieben und elf Uhr, wenn die meisten mit häuslichen Arbeiten beschäftigt sind. Und gerade in dieser Zeitspanne von vier Stunden erleben die Radios die Invasion einer neuen Welle: die Polizeiberichte. Es gibt d ... more