Description
Book SynopsisIn analyses of digital death footage—from victims of police brutality to those who jump from the Golden Gate Bridge—Jennifer Malkowski considers the immense changes digital technologies have introduced in the ability to record and display actual deaths—one of documentary's most taboo and politically volatile subjects.
Trade Review"Well written, with a good message on the tabooed topic, this book is a good dare-to reading for everyone being arrested or rejected by everyday mediated images of death." -- Ana Peraica * Leonardo Reviews *
"By intervening as she does, Malkowski not only provides readers with insight into the long-standing visual pursuits of documentary with regard to death, but also with important methodological concerns that are applicable to a number of other contexts. As digital platforms continue to evolve and provoke new apprehensions, one’s understanding of such phenomena as murders streamed over Facebook Live will be vastly enriched by the work that
Dying in Full Detail so adroitly performs." -- Kelsey Cummings * Film Quarterly *
"Of the many strengths of
Dying in Full Detail, perhaps the greatest is Malkowski’s compassion and care in handling such extremely personal and sensitive material. . . . Her work is culturally sensitive and critically engaging, as well as clearly written and academically thorough." -- Stephanie Salerno * Journal of Popular Culture *
"I really value Malkowski’s willingness to unflinchingly critique the intersection of death and media and question if and how these various media might better serve political activism against injustice. . . . Her book emphasizes the irony that while some might fetishize death through spectacle and digital recordings, recorded death can also function as visual and ethical rhetoric against repressive regimes and hegemonic forces. I think this is her most significant contribution and reason to read this important book." -- Candi K. Cann * Journal of Death and Dying *
"As more people have the digital tools at their disposal to produce and disseminate images of death, whether as a conscious choice or due to circumstance, Malkowski’s careful unpacking of the ethics and limitations of the various gazes that organize these images will continue to be recommended reading." -- Emily West * International Journal of Communication *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Capturing the "Moment": Photography, Film, and Death's Elusive Duration 23
2. The Art of Dying, On Video: Deathbed Documentaries 67
3. " A Negative Pleasure": Suicide's Digital Sublimity 109
4. Streaming Death: The Politics of Dying on YouTube 155
Conclusion. The Nearest Cameras Can Go 201
Notes 207
Bibliography 231
Index 241
