The role of technological developments on the representation of violence in the history of cinema based on the phenomenology of Don Ihde
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Just as violence is a part of human nature and cannot be avoided, it has also been present in movies since the beginning of this art form, and it has been the subject of attention and study by various thinkers. Since violence has been evident in many films from the early years of cinema, most of us neglect to understand the amazing complexities and unexplored issues of its representation. One of these complications is understanding the effect of technologies on the representation of violence. Representation of violence in cinema is often studied from psychological and sociological perspectives, but few researchers have paid attention to the effect of technological developments on the representation of violence in cinema. The purpose of this research, which was carried out in a descriptive-analytical way, is to study the effect of technological developments on the representation of violence in the history of cinema. Obviously, the representation of violence in cinema has changed according to the changes and developments of technology. In a general classification, violence represented in the history of cinema can be divided into four periods, each of which is separated from its former era, by a fundamental technological evolution in this field. These evolutions are in the order of talking cinema, the colorization of cinematography and the digitization of cinema, each of which has brought about a fundamental transformation in the representation of violence. Among the scientific definitions of the concept of violence, in this research, the division of Mark Vorobej is used, he classifies violence in three forms: a) physical violence, b) psychological violence , and c) structural violence. Vorobej also categorizes the definitions of violence in the following five main topics, which can be considered as the five basic "dimensions" of the phenomenon of violence that exist in every violent act: 1) harming, 2) agency, 3) victimization/being, 4) instrumentality and 5) normativity. In order to understand and analyze the effects of technological developments in cinema, the opinions of "Don Ihde", a prominent expert in the field of philosophy of technology, have been used to explain the relationship between violent actions as human actions and technology. By stating that technology mediates human perception of the world, Ihde introduces four types of relationships that humans establish with the world in the presence of technology. The point that Ihde cared about from the beginning is that technology changes perception, so cinema changes our perception of violent action, and when violence is represented in cinema, we simultaneously understand the tool as cinema, and the violent act for itself. This is why the representation of violence is changing due to the evolution of technology.The findings of this research show that technologies, while transforming the representation of violence, are also a part of represented acts of violence. Furthermore, comparing the representation of violence in different eras, according to Ihde's opinions, shows the relative closeness of what is represented by cinematic technology in accordance to the time when the violent actions occur in the absence of cinema technology.
Authors: mojtaba fallah pour, ali sheikhmehdi
Institution: Tarbiat Modares University
Language: English
Topic: Cinema History and Criticism
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6888874775
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