War and Media

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the portrayal of war within media. It specifically focuses on and gives examples from the epilogue of "The Battle of Algiers," directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. It describes scenes in the film and the ways in which Pontecorvo illustrates many of the aspects of war. The paper finally discusses how the media affects the way that society sees the realities of war.

From the Paper:

"Media both causes and expresses reality. The landscape and local identities of war have been reshaped for our consumption. Modern media is instrumental in legitimizing war wherever it takes place by outlining differences in culture and identity. In The Battle of Algiers we could see this as the commanding military officer and the press questioned spokesman for the resistance. One of the reporters asks, "Isn't it vile to have women carry bombs in their baskets?" The questions had little to do with the reality of bloodshed and suffering and everything to do with shaping cultural values. The role of media in war is to anchor conflicts in its own media landscape, and then adopt a critical stance, while at the same time it constructs identities discursively. This is a change from the older function of literature "to point to the ideals and values related to war beyond the literary constructions" (p. 487). Larsen (2004) tells us that the "modern function of literature is to remind us that the real landscapes, with real bloodshed and real persons, only reach us through the arbitrary and abstract constructions which are circulated by the media" (p. 488)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Larsen, S. E. (2004). New Literary History, 35, 469-490.
• Loraux, N. (2002). The divided city. New York: Zone Books.
• Solinas, Franco (1997). The 1966 battle of Algiers screenplay. In The Battle of Algiers: The Complete Scenario. New York: Charles Scribner, 1-160.

More papers on War and Media:

• Research Paper # 53536 : "War and Media"
• Argumentative Essay # 58645 : "Misleading Virtualization of War and Censorship"
• Term Paper # 2610 : "The Holocaust and Media Influence"

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