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Seeing the Pain of Others: Understanding Human Rights Abuses Through Journalistic Writings, Films, Documentaries and Photography

Year 2022, , 230 - 243, 31.05.2022
https://doi.org/10.33709/ictimaiyat.1057486

Abstract

This article analyses the understanding of the pain of others and scrutinizes human rights violations committed against colonial subjects and vulnerable groups by colonial and nation-state actors. It employs an interdisciplinary perspective analyzing journalistic writings, films, documentaries and photography that cover human rights abuses committed against oppressed people. It elaborates on some human rights abuses rooted in the colonialism of European expansionism and other imperial policies that have destroyed the cultural distinctiveness of indigenous people. Exploitation, violence, exclusion are the main elements of colonialism and they are deeply connected with imperialism, the nation-state and the free market. Human rights abuses are discussed here in the context of critiques of colonialism and violence in the works of scholars such as Aime Cesaire, Hannah Arendt, Frantz Fanon and Michael Taussig. This article shows that films, documentaries, journalistic writings and photography are significant genres that can expose crimes committed against colonized subjects by colonial powers and vulnerable society by modern nation-states. It also indicates that instead of whitewashing the oppressors these genres can challenge and prevent further crimes and human rights abuses by inviting the spectator to face past crimes; form solidarity with victims; be vigilant about state crimes; take action against injustice.

References

  • Amrane Minne, D. D., & Clarke, A. (2007). Women at War: The Representation of Women in The Battle of Algiers. Interventions, 9(3), 340–349.
  • Berger, J. (2008). Ways of seeing. Penguin UK.
  • Berger, J. (2015). About looking. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. Routledge. London: Routledge.
  • Bisschoff L and Van De Peer S (2013) Art and Trauma in Africa: Representation of Reconciliation in Music, Visual Arts, Literature and Film. New York: I.B. Tauris.
  • Brody, H. (2001). The Other Side of Eden : Hunter-Gatherers, Farmers and the Shaping of the World. London: Faber & Faber.
  • Cain, D. (2004). A Fence Too Far? Postcolonial Guilt and the Myth of Distance in Rabbit Proof Fence. Third Text, 18(4), 297–303.
  • Carey, S. C., Gibney, M., & Poe, S. C. (2010). The politics of human rights: The quest for dignity. The Politics of Human Rights: The Quest for Dignity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Collins, F. and Davis, T., 2006. Disputing history, remembering country in The Tracker and Rabbit‐Proof Fence. Australian Historical Studies, 37(128), pp.35-54.
  • Césaire, A. (2000). Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press.
  • D’aeth, T. H. (2002). Which Rabbit-Proof Fence? Empathy, Assimilation, Hollywood. Australian Humanities Review, 27, 2–6.
  • Danner, M. (2009). US torture: voices from the black sites. The New York Review of Books, 9.
  • Fanon, F. (2001). The Wretched of the Earth. London: Penguin Books.
  • Go, J. (2013). Fanon’s postcolonial cosmopolitanism. European Journal of Social Theory, 16(2), 208–225.
  • Goldberg, E. (1996). Beyond Terror; Gender, Narrative, Human Rights. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
  • Gordon, M. (2015). Colonial violence and Holocaust studies. Holocaust Studies, 21(4), 272–291.
  • Hall, S. (2017). The Fateful Triangle:Race, Ethnicity and Nation. (K. Mercer, Ed.). Harvard University Press.
  • Harries P (2007) The Battle of Algeria: Between Fiction, Memory and History. In Smith V B and Mendelshon R Black and White in Colour: African History on Secreen. Oxford: James Curry. 203-222.
  • Hermannová, L. (2017). Rabbit-Proof Fence: A Critical Analysis. NEW: Emerging Scholars in Australian Indigenous Studies, 78–80.
  • Ife, J. (2009). Human Rights from Below; Achieving rights through community development. Cambirdge: Cambridge University Press.
  • James, C. L. R. (2001). The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. London: Penguin UK.
  • Kaufman, M. T. (2003). The World: Film Studies; What Does the Pentagon See in ‘Battle of Algiers’? New York Times, 7.
  • Koepnick L P (1993) Colonial Forestry: Sylvan Politics in Werner Herzog's Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo. New German Critique (60): 133-159.
  • Lindqvist, S. (2007). Terra Nullius; A Journey Through No One’s Land. New York: The New Press.
  • Malcolm D (2000) Gillo Pontecorvo: The Battle of Algiers. The Guardin 20 July. http://www.theguardian.com/uk.Accessed: 20.11.2013.
  • Masalha N (2012) The Palestinian Nakba; Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory. London: Zed Books.
  • Moore, L. (2003). The Veil of Nationalism: Frantz Fanon’s ‘Algeria Unveiled’and Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers. Kunapipi, 25(2), 7.
  • Murphy, M. C. (2004). Review: “Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine- Israel” | The Electronic Intifada. https://electronicintifada.net Accessed: 23.02.2021.
  • Peffer J (2013) Flogging Photographs from the Congo Free State. In: Bella M P D and Elkins J eds. Representations of Pain in Art and Visual Culture. London: Routledge.122-142
  • Robbins, B. (2016). Looking at Atrocities with John Berger. Politics/Letters Quarterly. http://quarterly.politicsslashletters.org. Accessed: 23.02.2021.
  • Said, E. (2003). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
  • Smeulers, A., & Grünfeld, F. (2011). International Crimes and Other Gross Human Rights Violations. International Crimes and Other Gross Human Rights Violations. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
  • Sontag, S. (2002). On photography. London: Penguin Books.
  • Sontag, S. (2003). Regarding the Pain of Others. London: Penguin Books.
  • Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the Subaltern Speak? Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, 271–312.
  • Swimelar, S., 2014. Making human rights visible through photography and film. The Sage Handbook of Human Rights: Two Volume Set, p.413.
  • Taussig, M. (1987). Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Seeing the Pain of Others: Understanding Human Rights Abuses Through Journalistic Writings, Films, Documentaries and Photography

Year 2022, , 230 - 243, 31.05.2022
https://doi.org/10.33709/ictimaiyat.1057486

Abstract

Bu makale, ötekinin acılarının anlaşılmasını analiz etmekte ve kolonyal özneye ve savunmasız gruplara karşı kolonyal ve ulus-devlet aktörleri tarafından işlenen insan hakları ihlallerini incelemektedir. Bu çalışma disiplinler arası bir perspektif kullanarak ezilenler toplumlara karşı işlenen insan hakları ihlallerini konu alan seyahatnameleri, filmleri, belgeselleri ve fotoğrafları incelemiştir. Avrupa yayılmacılığının sömürgeciliğinden kaynaklı bazı insan hakları ihlalleri ve diğer emperyalist politikalardan kaynaklanan yerli halkın kültürel farklılığını yok eden ihlaller etraflıca incelenmiştir. Sömürü, şiddet, dışlama, sömürgeciliğin ana unsurlarıdır ve bunlar emperyalizm, ulus-devlet ve serbest piyasa ile yakından bağlantılıdırlar. Buradaki insan hakları ihlalleri, Aime Cesaire, Hannah Arendt, Frantz Fanon ve Michael Taussig gibi yazarların eserlerindeki sömürgecilik ve şiddet eleştirileri bağlamında tartışılıyor. Bu makale, filmlerin, belgesellerin, seyahat yazılarının ve fotoğrafçılığın, sömürgeci güçler tarafından sömürgeleştirilmiş öznelere ve modern ulus devletler tarafından savunmasız toplumlara karşı işlenen suçları ifşa edebilecek önemli türler olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca bu çalışama, söz konusu janraların ezenleri aklamak yerine izleyiciyi geçmiş suçlarla yüzleşmeye; mağdurlarla dayanışmaya, ulus devlet suçları konusunda ihtiyatlı olmaya; adaletsizliğe karşı eyleme davet ederek suç ve insan hakları ihlallerine meydan okuyabileceğini ve önleyebileceğini belirtmektedir.

References

  • Amrane Minne, D. D., & Clarke, A. (2007). Women at War: The Representation of Women in The Battle of Algiers. Interventions, 9(3), 340–349.
  • Berger, J. (2008). Ways of seeing. Penguin UK.
  • Berger, J. (2015). About looking. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. Routledge. London: Routledge.
  • Bisschoff L and Van De Peer S (2013) Art and Trauma in Africa: Representation of Reconciliation in Music, Visual Arts, Literature and Film. New York: I.B. Tauris.
  • Brody, H. (2001). The Other Side of Eden : Hunter-Gatherers, Farmers and the Shaping of the World. London: Faber & Faber.
  • Cain, D. (2004). A Fence Too Far? Postcolonial Guilt and the Myth of Distance in Rabbit Proof Fence. Third Text, 18(4), 297–303.
  • Carey, S. C., Gibney, M., & Poe, S. C. (2010). The politics of human rights: The quest for dignity. The Politics of Human Rights: The Quest for Dignity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Collins, F. and Davis, T., 2006. Disputing history, remembering country in The Tracker and Rabbit‐Proof Fence. Australian Historical Studies, 37(128), pp.35-54.
  • Césaire, A. (2000). Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press.
  • D’aeth, T. H. (2002). Which Rabbit-Proof Fence? Empathy, Assimilation, Hollywood. Australian Humanities Review, 27, 2–6.
  • Danner, M. (2009). US torture: voices from the black sites. The New York Review of Books, 9.
  • Fanon, F. (2001). The Wretched of the Earth. London: Penguin Books.
  • Go, J. (2013). Fanon’s postcolonial cosmopolitanism. European Journal of Social Theory, 16(2), 208–225.
  • Goldberg, E. (1996). Beyond Terror; Gender, Narrative, Human Rights. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
  • Gordon, M. (2015). Colonial violence and Holocaust studies. Holocaust Studies, 21(4), 272–291.
  • Hall, S. (2017). The Fateful Triangle:Race, Ethnicity and Nation. (K. Mercer, Ed.). Harvard University Press.
  • Harries P (2007) The Battle of Algeria: Between Fiction, Memory and History. In Smith V B and Mendelshon R Black and White in Colour: African History on Secreen. Oxford: James Curry. 203-222.
  • Hermannová, L. (2017). Rabbit-Proof Fence: A Critical Analysis. NEW: Emerging Scholars in Australian Indigenous Studies, 78–80.
  • Ife, J. (2009). Human Rights from Below; Achieving rights through community development. Cambirdge: Cambridge University Press.
  • James, C. L. R. (2001). The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution. London: Penguin UK.
  • Kaufman, M. T. (2003). The World: Film Studies; What Does the Pentagon See in ‘Battle of Algiers’? New York Times, 7.
  • Koepnick L P (1993) Colonial Forestry: Sylvan Politics in Werner Herzog's Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo. New German Critique (60): 133-159.
  • Lindqvist, S. (2007). Terra Nullius; A Journey Through No One’s Land. New York: The New Press.
  • Malcolm D (2000) Gillo Pontecorvo: The Battle of Algiers. The Guardin 20 July. http://www.theguardian.com/uk.Accessed: 20.11.2013.
  • Masalha N (2012) The Palestinian Nakba; Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory. London: Zed Books.
  • Moore, L. (2003). The Veil of Nationalism: Frantz Fanon’s ‘Algeria Unveiled’and Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers. Kunapipi, 25(2), 7.
  • Murphy, M. C. (2004). Review: “Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine- Israel” | The Electronic Intifada. https://electronicintifada.net Accessed: 23.02.2021.
  • Peffer J (2013) Flogging Photographs from the Congo Free State. In: Bella M P D and Elkins J eds. Representations of Pain in Art and Visual Culture. London: Routledge.122-142
  • Robbins, B. (2016). Looking at Atrocities with John Berger. Politics/Letters Quarterly. http://quarterly.politicsslashletters.org. Accessed: 23.02.2021.
  • Said, E. (2003). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
  • Smeulers, A., & Grünfeld, F. (2011). International Crimes and Other Gross Human Rights Violations. International Crimes and Other Gross Human Rights Violations. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
  • Sontag, S. (2002). On photography. London: Penguin Books.
  • Sontag, S. (2003). Regarding the Pain of Others. London: Penguin Books.
  • Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the Subaltern Speak? Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, 271–312.
  • Swimelar, S., 2014. Making human rights visible through photography and film. The Sage Handbook of Human Rights: Two Volume Set, p.413.
  • Taussig, M. (1987). Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
There are 37 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Sociology, Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Orjinal Makale
Authors

Ali Eşref Keleş 0000-0001-5453-4022

Publication Date May 31, 2022
Submission Date January 13, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022

Cite

APA Keleş, A. E. (2022). Seeing the Pain of Others: Understanding Human Rights Abuses Through Journalistic Writings, Films, Documentaries and Photography. İçtimaiyat, 6(1), 230-243. https://doi.org/10.33709/ictimaiyat.1057486
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