We are seeking papers for an interdisciplinary panel on “Aesthetic Representations of Political Violence” to be presented at the 2010 meetings of the American Anthropological Association in New Orleans, Nov. 17-21, 2010.

Representations of political violence are often created and resurrected in various aesthetic forms to further particular social, political or economic across times and place. For example, theatrical performances or artistic creations romanticizing past violence can be used to normalize certain types of violent displays within the viewing community. The aesthetic forms that these representations take are often essential to creating an emotionally compelling narrative to galvanize the audience to adopt a particular perspective relating to local, national, or global issues. These representations also allow viewers a space to negotiate alternative interpretations of the depicted violence and its current relevance.

Please submit an abstract by March 10, 2010, to Jennifer Schlegel (jschlege@kutztown.edu) or Kim Shively (shively@kutztown.edu).

Possible topics would include:

Discursive uses of political violence

The recirculation of aesthetic representations of past political violence in the service of contemporary political goals in local, national or international contexts

Critical analyses of artistic, discursive, performative, or symbolic representations of political violence

How aesthetic representations of political violence shift according to audience and context.

The process of producing and circulating aesthetic representations of political violence

The cross-cultural appropriation of narratives or images of political violence

How depictions of past political violence are used to justify further violence.

How representations of political violence serve to bolster or undermine existing gender, heterosexist, racial, ethnic or religious power structures.

How such representations can socialize community members into a particular political position

Please submit an abstract by March 10, 2010, to Jennifer Schlegel (jschlege@kutztown.edu) or Kim Shively (shively@kutztown.edu).