ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the idea of not looking and its relation to the West turning away from the tragedy that unfolded in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge, who combined ultra-Maoist ideology with strident nationalism, ruled over Cambodia from April 1975 until January 1979, when the Vietnamese army chased them out. Their crimes were mentioned in Western mainstream media but news about the situation in Cambodia never reached a critical mass in public opinion. The anthropologist was struck by the silence of Colombian peasants who, although they knew that the military and police were deeply involved in terrorism and drug running, never spoke about it. On the basis of photographs that denote situations in which Western witnesses and bystanders turned away, investigate not looking at two levels: in the interaction with Khmer Rouge manipulations of events and images, the way it still affects present-day perceptions of Democratic Kampuchea and the responsibility of the West in Cambodia's ordeal.