ABSTRACT

Cultural Practices of Victimhood aims to set the agenda for a cultural study of victimhood. Words such as ‘victim’ and ‘victimhood’ represent shifting cultural signifiers, their meaning depending on the cultural context of their usage. Using case studies and through a practice-based approach, questions are asked about how victimhood is defined and constructed, whether in the ritual commemoration of refugees on Lampedusa, the artistic practices of an Aboriginal artist such as Richard Bell, or the media practices associated with police violence.

Consisting of contributions by cultural studies experts with an interest in victim studies, this book seeks a double readership. On the one hand, it intends to break new ground with regards to a ‘cultural turn’ in the field of criminology, in particular victimology. On the other hand, it also seeks to open up discussions about a ‘victimological turn’ in culture studies. The volume invites scholars and advanced students active in both domains to reflect on victimhood in cultural practices.

chapter |16 pages

Introduction

Cultural practices of victimhood

part I|64 pages

Ritual practices

chapter 1|20 pages

Srebrenica

Conflict and ritual complexities

chapter 2|16 pages

A monument for boat refugees

Ritual and the art of liminality

chapter 3|26 pages

Refugee rituals

Exploring ritual repertoire of victimhood

part II|84 pages

Artistic practices

chapter 5|16 pages

Victimhood in reverse

Art in the age of apology

chapter 6|22 pages

Basque Country competing memories at the local, regional and state levels

Promoting public artistic events versus public institutional policies

chapter 7|23 pages

Who speaks for the victim?

Experiences of migrants and refugees in Jenny Erpenbeck’s novel Go, Went, Gone and Mikhail Shishkin’s Maidenhair

part III|69 pages

Media practices

chapter 8|26 pages

#BlackLivesMatter

Understanding anti-police protest as a cultural practice

chapter 9|21 pages

Online-offline modes of identity and community

Elliot Rodger’s twisted world of masculine victimhood

chapter 10|20 pages

The Cologne translation note

Victims and perpetrators

chapter |15 pages

Epilogue

Imagining cultural victimology