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Resistance, Testimony and Recognition : an audience study on The Well

Muyan, Volkan LU (2022) MKVM13 20221
Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
Abstract
The human right violations in Kurdish cities in 90s is the focus point of the Kurdish documentary cinema. Although there are several documentary studies on trauma, little attention has been given to experiences of audiences. The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which the audience engages with the documentary in the context of The Well (Bîr, dir. Veysi Altay, 2018), which is one of the important examples of the Kurdish documentary cinema tradition that emerged in the 90s. By involving perspectives of the filmmaker, audiences and a relative of enforced disappearance, this study seeks to develop a holistic understanding of the dynamics of engagement, cultural memory, witnessing and recognition in regard of documentary. In order to... (More)
The human right violations in Kurdish cities in 90s is the focus point of the Kurdish documentary cinema. Although there are several documentary studies on trauma, little attention has been given to experiences of audiences. The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which the audience engages with the documentary in the context of The Well (Bîr, dir. Veysi Altay, 2018), which is one of the important examples of the Kurdish documentary cinema tradition that emerged in the 90s. By involving perspectives of the filmmaker, audiences and a relative of enforced disappearance, this study seeks to develop a holistic understanding of the dynamics of engagement, cultural memory, witnessing and recognition in regard of documentary. In order to understand these dynamics, I employed feminist methodology and conducted twelwe in-depth interviews. All interviews were thematically coded with qualitative text analysis.

This study demonstrate that the documentary is based on the narratives of the atrocity and the struggle. I argue that audiences engage with The Well in multiple ways, they adopt their own ethical-political attitudes as active observers and develop their own strategies in the face of compelling emotions. By watching the documentary audiences become witness to trauma -that was experienced by Kurdish people- trought the archival footages and the narratives of the relatives of the enforced dissapperances. Audiences perceive this documentary as an evidence and state that these documentaries should be part of the transnational justive process and struggle against impunity. (Less)
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author
Muyan, Volkan LU
supervisor
organization
course
MKVM13 20221
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
humanitarian documentary, Kurdish documentary, enforced disappearance, atrocity, engagement, archive, testimony, recognition
language
English
id
9079482
date added to LUP
2022-07-14 08:18:22
date last changed
2022-07-14 08:18:22
@misc{9079482,
  abstract     = {{The human right violations in Kurdish cities in 90s is the focus point of the Kurdish documentary cinema. Although there are several documentary studies on trauma, little attention has been given to experiences of audiences. The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which the audience engages with the documentary in the context of The Well (Bîr, dir. Veysi Altay, 2018), which is one of the important examples of the Kurdish documentary cinema tradition that emerged in the 90s. By involving perspectives of the filmmaker, audiences and a relative of enforced disappearance, this study seeks to develop a holistic understanding of the dynamics of engagement, cultural memory, witnessing and recognition in regard of documentary. In order to understand these dynamics, I employed feminist methodology and conducted twelwe in-depth interviews. All interviews were thematically coded with qualitative text analysis.

This study demonstrate that the documentary is based on the narratives of the atrocity and the struggle. I argue that audiences engage with The Well in multiple ways, they adopt their own ethical-political attitudes as active observers and develop their own strategies in the face of compelling emotions. By watching the documentary audiences become witness to trauma -that was experienced by Kurdish people- trought the archival footages and the narratives of the relatives of the enforced dissapperances. Audiences perceive this documentary as an evidence and state that these documentaries should be part of the transnational justive process and struggle against impunity.}},
  author       = {{Muyan, Volkan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Resistance, Testimony and Recognition : an audience study on The Well}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}