Documentary in artistic practice: accented essays from Turkey

Online talk via Teams, 1 December Wednesday, 14:00-15:00 (link)

Documentary and art are seemingly two words in conflict with one another: the former implies a kind of documentation that encloses an objective record of the real world while the latter is defined and evaluated by subjectivity and creativity. Nonetheless – as Grierson’s famous definition of documentary also suggests – subjectivity and creativity are two concepts that inevitably become significant during the documentary filmmaking process as they can produce and/or prevent conventions, possibilities and limitations in a film’s narrative. Moreover, the historical collaboration between documentary filmmakers and visual artists is an indication of the range of forms documentary can take.

As part of the Centre's research seminar series, Elif Akçalı's paper will look at the use of documentary filmmaking in artistic practices in Turkey, especially focusing on those contemporary works that adopt a first-person, subjective viewpoint, made by artists in transition. Akçalı's case studies are Didem Pekün’s Of Dice and Men (2016), Şener Özmen’s How to tell of peace to a living dove? (2015) and Aykan Safoğlu’s Off-white Tulips (2013), which she categorizes as accented essays. Akçalı will analyze the aesthetics of these three works especially in terms of how the subjective viewpoint in their narratives shape our understanding of the social and cultural context, which was largely shaped by the political events during the period in which they were made. The accented first-person address in these works, along with other stylistic choices prone to essayistic documentary filmmaking that they pursue, allow them to enjoy a multiplicity of meanings, raising personal questions that become relevant for collective issues of identity, belonging, culture, history and memory.

Dr. Elif Akçalı completed her PhD in Media Arts in 2014 at Royal Holloway, University of London, and she is Assistant Professor at the Department of Radio, TV and Cinema Department, Kadir Has University (Istanbul, Turkey) since 2015. She teaches the practice of film editing as well as a variety of theoretical courses in screen studies within the undergraduate and graduate programmes at Khas. Her works have appeared in a variety of journals including Critical Arts, Journal of Film and Video and [in]Transition. Her research interests include film style and aesthetics, documentary and essay film, gender and audiovisual production, and videographic film studies. Currently she is leading a two-year research project funded by TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) titled “Women on Screen and Behind the Camera: A Contemporary Outlook of Representation and Labor of Women in Film and TV Industries in Turkey (2017-2021).”

Famous monsters: mediations of celebrified sex offenders in contemporary US media

Online talk via Teams, 16 November Tuesday, 17:00-18:00 (link)

As part of the Centre's research seminar series, Sabrina Moro's paper will examine the imbrications of sexual violence and celebrity culture in contemporary US media. Even before #MeToo, the public fascination with everyman perpetrators of violent sex crimes has been instrumental in shaping cultural understandings of sexual violence. A critical analysis of the media framing of sex offenders who have become famous because of the crime they committed reveals how the celebritisation of sexual violence can be lucrative.

Because of its focus on sex-based offences and its trademark ‘ripped-from-the-headlines’ episodes, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC 1999-) provides an entry point to analyse the celebrification of perpetrators. This paper draws on SVU’s dramatization of the cases against Earl Bradley and Larry Nassar It first explores how celebrified pedophiles are constructed as monstruous abnormalities to maintain the mutual exclusivity of heterosexuality and violence. Even as there are many similarities between the Bradley case and the Nassar case – abuse of medical authority, serial assault of minors – their cultural resonance is not equivalent. The second part of this paper attends to this discrepancy. It shows that the media coverage of Nassar’s trial captures social anxieties related to gender, sexuality, race, and class, as well as the changing nature of fame.

 

Sabrina Moro recently submitted her PhD in Journalism and Media Studies at Nottingham Trent University and is currently a lecturer in French and Media at Nottingham Trent University. Her research interests include contemporary celebrity cultures, mediations of sexual violence, and feminist theory. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies and Journal of Fandom Studies. Her chapter on Maria Schneider’s sexual assault testimony will be published next Spring in Screening #MeToo: Rape Culture in Hollywood (SUNY Press).

 

Trigger warning: the paper deals with sexual assault of minors, but no details or depictions are included in the presentation.

The Centre is pleased to announce a seminar by Dr Colin Alexander, 3-4 p.m., November 3rd., 'Hegemony, Morality and Power: A Gramscian Theory of Public Diplomacy'

 

This research seminar examines ways in which public diplomacy should be understood at a theoretical level. It focuses on the key themes of hegemony, morality and power, using the philosophical writings of Antonio Gramsci as a guide. Gramsci is an important source of authority for many academics interested in International Relations (particularly World Order studies), Communications Theory, Culture Studies, Postcolonial Studies and Political Communications. His widespread absence from literature on public diplomacy is therefore interesting in and of itself but so too is public diplomacy’s general lack of sufficient theorisation. This seminar looks to engage with some of those issues and to create a debate about them. The seminar also serves as a book launch of Dr. Alexander's new edited volume 'The Frontiers of Public Diplomacy' (Routledge, 2021).

The Research Centre for the Study of Inequality, Culture and Difference is delighted to welcome Dr Lexi Webster from Manchester Metropolitan University, who will be giving a research talk titled: '“Eye of the Beholder”: Considering pluralism, relativism and un/intentional consequences in critical discourse studies'

Abstract: In its radical impetus, critical discourse studies prioritises what ought to be in seeking social transformation for the benefit of the powerless. By analysing how and why unequal power relations are constructed and reproduced in discourse, critical discourse studies scholars seek change towards a better and more equal world. I argue, however, that the unabashed normativity of critical discourse studies prevents its scholars from engendering such change. That is, without considering competing and intersecting perspectives on the social phenomena under analysis, it becomes largely impossible to evaluate whether good really can be done via any given critique. As such, I contend that an approach embedding pluralism and relativism might enable critical discourse studies scholars to enact the virtues that the discipline extols.  

To illustrate the role that pluralism and relativism can play in critical discourse studies, I reflect on my own work at the intersection(s) of language, gender, sex and sexuality. Focusing particularly on transgender discourse(s), including online antagonism and broader discussions of socio-legal recognition, I discuss how critique might consider multiple intersecting power structures and mechanisms in its aims towards social change. Specifically, I consider “winners”, “losers” and un/intentional consequences that might arise from proposed changes to social practice. I contend that accounting for such lateral and intersecting struggles is an ethical imperative in critical discourse studies, which might allow scholars to move recommendations for change from paper to practice. 

Bio: Dr Lexi Webster is a Lecturer in Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her research thus far has primarily explored transgender Twitter users’ behaviour and language use online, though she has also published and delivered invited lectures on ideological segregation, freedom of expression and the regulation of communication online. Lexi primarily uses corpus-driven approaches to critical discourse studies, focusing on the implications that identity construction/s and cognitive models have for actors, institutions and social structures. 

We look forward to seeing some of you there on Wednesday 30th June. All welcome!

 

Horror in the Archives

 

Social media, parades and protest in a Divided Society: Reflections from post-conflict Northern Ireland, Dr Paul Reilly from the University of Sheffield 1-2pm BST, Wednesday 28th April,

The NTU Research Centre for the Study of Inequality, Culture and Difference is delighted to welcome Dr Paul Reilly from the University of Sheffield 1-2pm BST on Wednesday 28th April, who will be giving a talk on Social media, parades and protest in a Divided Society: Reflections from post-conflict Northern Ireland. 

Abstract:

How are platforms such as Facebook and Twitter used by citizens to frame contentious parades and protests in ‘post-conflict’ Northern Ireland? What do these contentious episodes tell us about the potential of information and communication technologies to promote positive intergroup contact in the deeply divided society?  

In this paper, I  will explore these issues through the first in-depth qualitative exploration of how social media were used during the union flag protests (December 2012-March 2013) and the Ardoyne parade disputes (July 2014 and 2015). I examine the extent to which affective publics, mobilised and connected via expressions of solidarity on social media, appear to escalate or de-escalate sectarian tensions caused by these hybrid media events. I conclude by examining whether citizen activity on these online platforms has the potential to contribute to peacebuilding in divided societies such as Northern Ireland. 

Bio:

Dr. Paul Reilly is Senior Lecturer in Social Media & Digital Society at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on social media sousveillance, digital activism and the use of digital media to promote better community relations in divided societies. He has written two books on the role of digital media in conflict transformation in Northern Ireland (Framing the Troubles Online and Digital Contention in a Divided Society, both with Manchester University Press). His work has also been published in a number of journals including First Monday, Information, Communication & Society, Journalism, New Media & Society, and Policy & Internet.