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Empathic Vision: Affect, Trauma, and Contemporary Art
This book authored analyses contemporary visual art produced in the context of conflict and trauma from a range of countries, including Colombia, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Australia. It focuses on what makes visual language unique, arguing that the "affective" quality of art contributes to a new understanding of the experience of trauma and loss. By extending the concept of empathy, it also demonstrates how we might, through art, make connections with people in different parts of the world whose experiences differ from our own. The book makes a distinct contribution to trauma studies, which has tended to concentrate on literary forms of expression. It also offers a sophisticated theoretical analysis of the operations of art, drawing on philosophers such as Gilles Deleuze, but setting this within a postcolonial framework. Research for this book was undertaken with the support of a large grant from the Australian Research Council.
“an insightful, timely book. Innovative, courageous and unashamedly attempting to push the analysis of culture onto "new ground"..."written at the highest level”... Thought-provoking and at times startling, opens up new ideas that stay with you long after you have closed its covers.” Leonardo Reviews“provides both philosophical depth and rich case studies...” Millennium: Journal of International Studies“Empathic Vision makes not only contemporary art but art theory enlivened literally with a radical politics of possibility...Bennett’s analysis is both substantial and subtle... literally creates—gives birth to—an entirely new way of conceiving of contemporary art.” ANZJA
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Publisher
Stanford University Press
Published date
January, 2005