Witnessing Wootton Bassett: An Exploration in Cultural Victimology

Abstract

The media reporting and visual witnessing of repatriations at Wootton Bassett have become an increasingly frequent occurrence since the first spontaneous saluting of what was then a lonely procession, by Royal British Legion members in 2007. UK military deaths from the war in Afghanistan have now reached over 300 and media sources have begun speculating as to which entry point is likely to replace Wootton Bassett when RAF Lyneham closes in August 2011. Our purpose in this paper is to explore the 'public performance' and 'witnessing' of these events through two 'lenses': the literal via photography and the theoretical by way of victimology. Our intention is to situate ourselves as visual, critical, and certainly not neutral, witnesses. In so doing, we wish to use pictures taken by the photographer Stuart Griffiths to propose three cultural trends that our witnessing of his pictures of Wootton Bassett suggests. In so doing we present three themes that we think are identifiable within these photographs: the compression of private and public grief; gothicism and the emergence of 'dark tourism'; and displays of resistance. By way of conclusion we discuss the implications of this analysis for victimology.Keywords cultural victimology, documentary photography, soldier as victim, witnessing 'In the desperation of grief, there can be an undeniable impulse to follow the dead, who are still somehow so much alive'

Self-Victimization and Political Discourse: Emotions, Cultural Resonance and Political Mobilization in the Rhetoric of B. Netanyahu

“…L'appel à l'émotion constitue le premier, et probablement le plus évident composant de la rhétorique de victimisation. Comme l'indiquent Walklate et al (2011), la mise en relief des émotions dans les journaux, les médias, la culture populaire et les réseaux sociaux sont un élément constitutif du discours qui fait usage des figures de la victime pour influencer le système judiciaire ou les processus politiques (2011 : 157). La souffrance des victimes est mobilisée pour gagner l'adhésion des auditoires cibles, et cela implique que « la souffrance de certains est reconnue et légitimée, tandis que celle des autres est ignorée… être reconnu comme souffrant exige d'être reconnu comme digne de pitié -être une victime » (ibid.)…”

Nils Christie: On the periphery but in the centre

“…Second, the ways in which grief, loss, and trauma are mapped through the criminal justice process (Mythen, 2007;Ferrell et al, 2008). These concerns are rather newer to the field of victimology than criminology, though there have been some tentative developments of this kind of work (see for example, Walklate et al, 2011;Howie, 2012;Walklate et al, 2014). This agenda carries implications for how we do victimological work (discussed below) and what kind of concepts might inform that work.…”

Looking at Military Landscapes: Definitions and Approaches

“…New modes of commemoration and mourning emergent during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and prompted by the public repatriation of the bodies of fallen soldiers illustrate this well. As Walklate, Mythen, and McGarry (2011) note, the solemn silent crowds lining the route taken by hearses carrying the bodies of fallen soldiers through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett denotes the emergence of a reconfigured politics of remembrance which is simultaneously appropriate and uncomfortable because of the questions these acts pose for our acceptance (or otherwise) of the legitimacy of conflict. New modes of civilian regulation of activities which impact upon the environment, which require adherence following the outsourcing of military functions to civilian management, have yet to be investigated, but these too raise difficult questions about public acceptance (or otherwise) of the costs of military activities.…”