Warfare Imagery Research Articles

A discourse analysis of Ebola in South African newspapers (2014–2015)

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in three African states transformed the virus into a social reality in which media representations contributed to globalised hysteria and had rhetorical effects. This study investigated representations of the Ebola virus/disease in South African news reports (March 2014–June 2015). Four discourses were found to operate within the globalised social context: threat to humanity, predation, invasion, and conspiracy. The South African reportage framed Ebola as a predator and criminal rather than using stock warfare imagery. Representations indicated alignment with phobic high-income countries and colonial hegemony.

Divine Desire: Paul’s Apocalyptic God of Rescue

In his apocalyptic understanding of the gospel, Paul weaves together the presence of hostile powers, warfare imagery, and a powerful description of a God who seeks to deliver humanity and creation from evil by means of divine rescue.

Solon and the Rhetoric of Stasis

This article considers how Solon recasts the traditional imagery of warfare and violence in order to bolster his persona as a “reconciler” (cf. Ath. Pol. 5.1–2) and peacemaker. Beginning with the fragments of his Salamis, I examine Solon’s skilled use of persona and emotion, building on the elegiac tradition of martial exhortation. Turning to fr. 4, I trace one of its most striking features, namely, the way it applies the language of epic warfare to stasis, and so suggests that the dichotomies of war versus peace, and enemy versus self, do not work in contemporary Athens. The manipulation of epic language and war imagery to support Solon’s role as reconciler is equally evident in fr. 5, and communicates Solon’s role as an outstanding and impartial protector, whose achievement has been to save the Athenians from unjust (i.e., internal) violence. In fr. 36, one of the most fascinating surviving examples of the political use of iambus in the archaic period, Solon foregrounds the damage to Athenian society caused by greed, debt, and enslavement for it and presents his unbiased reforms as having prevented civil war. By adapting epic imagery, Solon emphasizes his unfair treatment as an outsider, as he, the saviour of his community, is cast in the role of an antisocial animal. Finally, in fr. 37, Solon’s imagery is geared to arguing that the current conflict is best resolved not by violence but by peaceful agreement, a symbol of reconciliation embodied in Solon himself. Throughout my discussion, I focus on how Solon uses two strategies in particular to communicate the importance of his role: the first is the way he applies military language and metaphors to political situations and relationships in order to highlight the evils of stasis; the second is the way he recasts traditional imagery of warfare and violence to highlight his efforts, and his success, as a “reconciler” (διαλλακτής) of the warring parties.

‘Off with their heads!’ The imagery of the head in the trilogy of Psalms 108–110 (Part 2)

A social-scientific analysis of the word ‘head’ in Psalms 108–110 indicates from another theme (war) and perspective (honour) how the imagery of the head is used to communicate warfare, and to develop and establish the connections between Psalms 108 to 110. This two-part article indicates (in the first article) that the imagery of the head can be considered as part of the imagery of warfare. The value system of honour and shame as expressions of the function and purpose of the warfare imagery is made through a social-scientific analysis of the imagery of the head. The iconography of different ancient Near Eastern contexts is used as extra-textual sources to elucidate the concept of the head as an aspect of warfare imagery, expressing honour and shame. The second article examines and applies the use of the imagery of the head in Psalms 108–110 by integrating the deductions made in this first part. This helps to indicate the development and connections between Psalms 108–110 through utilisation of the imagery of the head.

‘Off with their heads!’ The imagery of the head in the trilogy of Psalms 108–110 (Part 1)

A social-scientific analysis of the word ‘head’ in Psalms 108–110 indicates from another theme (war) and perspective (honour), how the imagery of the head communicates warfare, develops and establishes a connection between Psalms 108–110. In this two-part article, this is established by indicating in the first article that the imagery of the head can be considered as part of warfare imagery. The value system of honour and shame as expressions of the function and purpose of the warfare imagery is made through a social-scientific analysis of the head. The iconography of different ancient Near Eastern contexts is used as an extra-textual source to elucidate the concept of the head as an aspect of warfare imagery, expressed through honour and shame. Part two (the second article) of this article examines and applies the use of the imagery of the head in Psalms 108–110 by integrating the deductions made in this first part of this article. This helps to indicate the development and connection between Psalms 108–110 through the imagery of the head.

Fighting the War against Blight: Columbia University, Morningside Heights, Inc., and Counterinsurgent Urban Renewal

During the post—World War II era, Columbia University undertook a bold and comprehensive expansion and redevelopment initiative to remake their immediate surroundings. Drawing upon the language of Cold War anticommunism, the university—in partnership with such redevelopment groups as Morningside Heights Inc.—undertook such a self-proclaimed ‘‘war on blight’’ in an attempt to ‘‘liberate’’ the surrounding community from the horrors of urban decay. This essay positions the 1968 student—community campaign against a proposed gymnasium in Morningside Park within this longer narrative of university-sponsored urban renewal. In light of such a history, those that campaigned against the university’s expansion efforts also adopted a language clearly influenced by the imagery of warfare in the mid-twentieth century: the language of anticolonialism.

Picturing Victory The Visual Imaginary of the War of Resistance, 1937–1947

AbstractThe Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1947 has not been sufficiently understood as a narrative in its own right, but rather, as a transitional conflict between Nationalist and Communist rule. The examination of the visual imagery of warfare disseminated through newsprint and books is one way to reinterpret the history of this period. Through a close reading of images printed in a Shanghai newspaper, Zhonghua ribao, during the final days of the battle for the city in 1937, we see how the news was shaped to impose a narrative of order with a positive teleology at a time when China was plunged into chaos with no guarantee of the eventual outcome of the war. The nature of this narrative is explored through examination of images of the body, as well as the positioning of images in the context of the printed page. The conclusion then contrasts these images with a pictorial history of the Sino-Japanese War published during the Civil War, in 1947. It suggests that although this book is able to bring narrative closure to the earlier conflict, its own narrative is imbued with an unease caused by the reality of the new war that had broken out within months of the ending of the war against Japan, and suggests that narrative closure is never truly obtained.

Shooting War: International Relations and the Cinematic Representation of Warfare

To Western societies today, warfare is primarily a mediated phenomenon. Thus, as we as ordinary citizens of Western societies no longer have the experience of warfare, yet consider it an integral part of our identity and politics in our attempts to civilise the rest of the world, the mediated re p resentation of warfare takes on a particular significance. As the two articles in the present exchange argue, the articulation of official discourses on warfare and international politics cannot be properly understood without analysing their representations in popular culture, and the role played by these in the construction of the collective memory of these events. Thus, the argument in the present exchange is not about whether popular culture is relevant to IR, but about how it is relevant, and how it shapes discourses about international politics. Our argument is that movie narratives tend to exclude politically and ethically contested issues and perspectives, in favour of more personalised and intimate renditions of warfare. The collective aspects of warfare are thus lost, and the war movie re p roduces a ‘depoliticised’ and amoral imagery of warfare and the international. As such, they tend to re p roduce dominant notions of the international in IR as a space in which the contested character of warfare remains larg e l y ____________________