Sarah Ford, guest interviewer, interviews Dr. Rebecca Aldeman about her book Figuring Violence: Affective Investments in Perpetual War, published by Fordham University Press in 2018.

Rebecca Adelman holds a PhD in Comparative Studies from the Ohio State University. Her research focuses on the intersections of visual culture and militarized violence, especially as it relates to affect, citizenship and ethics. She has presented at numerous national conferences and contributed to numerous anthologies and peer reviewed journals. Dr. Adelman teaches in the Department of Media and Communication Studies at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she will a full professor as of July 1st.

Figuring Violence: Affective Investments in Perpetual War examines the affects that define American militarism—apprehension, affection, admiration, gratitude, pity, and anger. These affects constitute a variety of figures from civilian and military children to Guantanamo Bay detainees. The book tracks the imaginative work that sustains this process to show how figuring these beings makes them both hyper-visible and invisible all at once.

Nick Taylor

Books Aren't DeadBy Books Aren't DeadJun 25, 2020