Introduction: Visual representations of war and violence: considering embodiment

摘要

The inspiration for this special issue, which I had the privilege of guest editing, was borne out of the wish to unequivocally foreground the intricacies, complexities and contradictions of the embodied experiences - the experience of living in and through our bodies - of not just war, but of violence more broadly. The issue is not just driven by a wish to examine embodiment to broaden the theoretical and conceptual landscape of the field of visual representations of war and violence - but also, in the vein of Scarry (1985; see also McSorley, 2014) - the call is underpinned by an ethical imperative to make it once again central that war and violence can and do involve, amongst other things, embodied experiences of profound pain and suffering - experiences which are too often side-lined or even disavowed (McSorley 2013; McSorley 2014) - as well as admittedly, 'positive' embodied experiences such as the overcoming of adversity, victory or freedom. As Sylvester (2012) argues in relation to war in particular, war can include not just blood and tears, but also laughter.