After Trauma: Time and Affect in American Culture Beyond 9/11

Dunst, Alexander

doi:10.1080/13534645.2012.672244

“…For Silverman and Turim, an aggregate of individual traumas can cause collective trauma, and for Kaplan "where the 'self' begins and cultural reactions end may seem impossible to determine" (2005:2). Contrary to this, aiming to establish an empirical definition of cultural trauma, Jeffrey C. Alexander et al (2004) employ a sociological approach to define cultural trauma as a social and cultural construct, independent and separated from individual suffering (Alexander 2004:37;Smelser 2004a:38; See also Dunst 2012).…”

Section: Trauma Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many descriptions of the atmosphere after September 11 in the US tend to highlight anxiety, fear, and a sense of trauma. Alexander Dunst notes that the September 11 terrorist attacks were mediated to the US public as a bodily wound inflicted on the imagined body of the state (seeDunst 2012). Post 9/11 the US imagined body was hurting and 3D cinema of this time employed stereoscopy in a manner that generated an affect I term empowering kinaesthesia, in which the "embodied feeling of being alive" to draw on Van der Kolk's words is rejuvenated (Van der Kolk 2014:2-3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Incredible but Very Real: 3D Cinema and Trauma in the Wake of WWII and 9/11

Fadlon¹

0

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<p>This thesis investigates Hollywood and global Hollywood 3D cinema at the height of its box office success, the early fifties, and from 2009-2014. Discourse surrounding 3D cinema in both periods is governed largely by technological and economic arguments. While this discourse holds some merit, it overlooks the cultural and historical background against which 3D cinema rose to prominence. Shifting research focus from the technological and economic to the cultural, this project uncovers the presence of trauma in 3D cinema of the fifties and D3D of the new millennium, and argues 3D cinema to be a privileged form to engage with traumatic themes. As trauma is uncovered in 3D cinema, connections are drawn between the narratives and poetics of the films discussed and post-traumatic themes prevalent in the US post WWII, and post September 11 respectively. Focusing on questions of representation, embodiment and temporality, which hold a central role both in 3D cinema and trauma theory, this project finds that 3D cinema narratives and poetics of each period resonated with the cultural trauma that preceded it.</p>

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“…For Silverman and Turim, an aggregate of individual traumas can cause collective trauma, and for Kaplan "where the 'self' begins and cultural reactions end may seem impossible to determine" (2005:2). Contrary to this, aiming to establish an empirical definition of cultural trauma, Jeffrey C. Alexander et al (2004) employ a sociological approach to define cultural trauma as a social and cultural construct, independent and separated from individual suffering (Alexander 2004:37;Smelser 2004a:38; See also Dunst 2012).…”

Section: Trauma Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many descriptions of the atmosphere after September 11 in the US tend to highlight anxiety, fear, and a sense of trauma. Alexander Dunst notes that the September 11 terrorist attacks were mediated to the US public as a bodily wound inflicted on the imagined body of the state (seeDunst 2012). Post 9/11 the US imagined body was hurting and 3D cinema of this time employed stereoscopy in a manner that generated an affect I term empowering kinaesthesia, in which the "embodied feeling of being alive" to draw on Van der Kolk's words is rejuvenated (Van der Kolk 2014:2-3).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Incredible but Very Real: 3D Cinema and Trauma in the Wake of WWII and 9/11

Fadlon¹

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>This thesis investigates Hollywood and global Hollywood 3D cinema at the height of its box office success, the early fifties, and from 2009-2014. Discourse surrounding 3D cinema in both periods is governed largely by technological and economic arguments. While this discourse holds some merit, it overlooks the cultural and historical background against which 3D cinema rose to prominence. Shifting research focus from the technological and economic to the cultural, this project uncovers the presence of trauma in 3D cinema of the fifties and D3D of the new millennium, and argues 3D cinema to be a privileged form to engage with traumatic themes. As trauma is uncovered in 3D cinema, connections are drawn between the narratives and poetics of the films discussed and post-traumatic themes prevalent in the US post WWII, and post September 11 respectively. Focusing on questions of representation, embodiment and temporality, which hold a central role both in 3D cinema and trauma theory, this project finds that 3D cinema narratives and poetics of each period resonated with the cultural trauma that preceded it.</p>

show abstract