Creating the Witness ─ Documenting Genocide on Film, Video, and the Internet

Part of the Visible Evidence series from the U. of Minnesota Press, Leshu Torchin's book deals with the issue of documenting genocide. The book gives attention not only to film and video, but also deals at length with the Internet, including forms such as YouTube and educational video games. Torchin's core argument is that people are not automatically more likely to stop a genocide or help its victims simply because they see images of what is happening. The book deals with the issues and concerns generally described as "torture porn" and "compassion fatigue." The author asks questions about where the stereotypical images of genocide perpetrators (black men with guns, white men in jackboots, men with guns in Middle Eastern costume) and victims (starving black children, pretty young women) move people to action and where they merely reinforce prejudices. The book brings up concerns about the use of shocking images that do not come from the actual genocide situation in question. The author's goal is to discover exactly what ways of accurately documenting genocide are most likely to get viewers to intervene in a genocide situation. However, the book does not have the data to answer this question, which leaves the author using theoretical tools on practical problems, offering opinions in the impersonal voice, and framing the crucial issues for readers as questions. Ultimately, the book distinguishes between a passive viewer, who sees and does nothing, and an active witness, who sees the evidence and then acts to help (what kinds of help they are likely to offer and how effective these will be is beyond the scope of the book). Torchin argues that viewers who look must be converted into witnesses who act, and visual images do not accomplish this task of moving viewers to practical action until they are put in a framing context that trains viewers how to respond to them. The author argues that ideology is the necessary framing context. This argument suggests that mechanisms used to cause genocide can also cure it. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)