The Aesthetics of Violence: Crime as Urban Spectacle in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (original) (raw)

2015

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenology of violence and the aesthetics of fictionalized crime through the examination of the immensely popular American television drama called CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I argue that from a phenomenological point of view, violence predetermines the cultural space within which it is located. Its conception is framed by socio-cultural, ethical and judicial discourses, academic disciplines and artistic genres. And yet, the phenomenology of violence also comprises the consideration of violence as a cultural commodity: the prominent position crime stories occupy in popular culture, in popular film and television in particular, could hardly be debated. In fact, it so appears that the theme of violence as such, in its eminent form, has always been there and we have always been, in some peculiar ways, fascinated with it. I try and trace the manifestations of this fascination by taking a closer look at the visual world of CSI. The trade...

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