Overview
In Legal Spectatorship Kelli Moore traces the political origins of the concept of domestic violence through visual culture in the United States. Tracing its appearance in Article IV of the Constitution, slave narratives, police notation, cybernetic theories of affect, criminal trials, and the ""look"" of the battered woman, Moore contends that domestic violence refers to more than violence between intimate partners-it denotes the mechanisms of racial hierarchy and oppression that undergird republican government in the United States. Moore connects the use of photographic evidence of domestic violence in courtrooms, which often stands in for women's testimony, to slaves' silent experience and witnessing of domestic abuse. Drawing on Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, abolitionist print culture, courtroom witness testimony, and the work of Hortense Spillers, Moore shows how the logic of slavery and antiblack racism also dictates the silencing techniques of the contemporary domestic violence courtroom. By positioning testimony on contemporary domestic violence prosecution within the archive of slavery, Moore demonstrates that domestic violence and its image are haunted by black bodies, black flesh, and black freedom. Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award recipient
Full Product Details
Author: Kelli Moore
Publisher: Duke University Press
Imprint: Duke University Press
Weight: 0.476kg
ISBN: 9781478015703
ISBN 10: 1478015705
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 27 May 2022
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
""Legal Spectatorship presents a comprehensive exploration of the history, legal frameworks, and social contexts surrounding domestic violence photography. Combining historical narratives, legal analyses, and contemporary ethnographic observations, Moore offers a thought-provoking perspective on the visual culture of domestic violence and its implications for social justice. It illuminates the role of photography in shaping public perceptions, influencing legal policies, and empowering victims and activists.""--Sezgi Basak Kavakli ""Critical Studies in Media Communication"" (7/17/2024 12:00:00 AM) ""Legal Spectatorship is groundbreaking and makes contributions for leveraging multiple research methods, but more important, for connecting slavery with domestic violence.""--Ke M. Huang-Isherwood ""International Journal of Communication"" (2/1/2023 12:00:00 AM) ""Legal Spectatorship is a substantial contribution to numerous fields of study including criminology, media and marketing, communications and American history to name only a few. The breadth of topics, scholarships and mixed media sources covered in this publication is impressive. . . . Moore's contribution to contemporary scholarship cannot be overstated, as she has immersed her readers into a timely and impactful discussion of the visual culture of domestic violence.""--Mary E. Booth ""European Journal of American Studies"" (11/7/2023 12:00:00 AM)
Author Information
Kelli Moore is Assistant Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University.
