This chapter investigates the trope of the ‘smiling perpetrator’ in photographs taken by those who committed violence in the context of war or genocide. This demonstrates how the smile functions as a pathosformel, a recurring trait capable of reshaping the cultural memory of violence. Through an iconological-semiotic analysis of three different cases: an image from the Höcker Album (Auschwitz, 1944), a photograph from Abu Ghraib (Iraq, 2003/2004), and a selfie of an IDF soldier in the Gaza Strip (2024). Through their analysis, the chapter investigates how the smile produces a perceptual and emotional short circuit between conviviality and cruelty, enabling a reflection on the various possible forms of the ordinariness of human violence.
Panico, M. (In stampa/Attività in corso). Violence and Smiles: Visual Tropes and Affect in the Photography of Perpetration. New York and London : Routledge.
Violence and Smiles: Visual Tropes and Affect in the Photography of Perpetration
Mario Panico
In corso di stampa
Abstract
This chapter investigates the trope of the ‘smiling perpetrator’ in photographs taken by those who committed violence in the context of war or genocide. This demonstrates how the smile functions as a pathosformel, a recurring trait capable of reshaping the cultural memory of violence. Through an iconological-semiotic analysis of three different cases: an image from the Höcker Album (Auschwitz, 1944), a photograph from Abu Ghraib (Iraq, 2003/2004), and a selfie of an IDF soldier in the Gaza Strip (2024). Through their analysis, the chapter investigates how the smile produces a perceptual and emotional short circuit between conviviality and cruelty, enabling a reflection on the various possible forms of the ordinariness of human violence.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
