Scars and Wounds

"Scars and Wounds is an outstanding contribution to an understanding of the causes and effects of trauma. With case studies including films made in Algeria, Bosnia, Rwanda, Chile and the USA, documentaries and fictional narratives, mainstream and low-budget productions, it perfectly balances historical research with discussion of the means filmmakers use to give shape to events that tear the tissue of individual and collective bodies. It demonstrates that trauma, even if resulting from natural disasters, is always imbricated with politics, including class and gender politics." (Prof. Ewa Mazierska, Professor of Contemporary Cinema, School of Humanities and Social Sciences , UCLAN, UK)

This book examines recent cinematic representations of the traumatic legacies of national and international events and processes.This book examines recent cinematic representations of the traumatic legacies of national and international events and processes. Whilst not ignoring European and Hollywood cinema, it includes studies of films about countries which have been less well-represented in cinematic trauma studies, including Australia, Rwanda, Chile and Iran. Each essay establishes national and international contexts that are relevant to the films considered. All essays also deal with form, whether this means the use of specific techniques to represent certain aspects of trauma or challenges to certain genre conventions to make them more adaptable to the traumatic legacies addressed by directors. The editors argue that the healing processes associated with such legacies can helpfully be studied through the idiom of ‘scar-formation’ rather than event-centred ‘wound-creation’.