Module 1
- Allbeson, Tom and Pippa Oldfield (2016), War, Photography, Business: New Critical Histories, Journal of War & Culture Studies 9(2): 94-114. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.1080/17526272.2016.1190203](
- Brothers, Caroline (1997), War and Photography: A Cultural History. London: Routledge. (selected chapters)
- Donald, Ralph and Karen MacDonald (2014), Women in War Films: From Helpless Heroine to G.I. Jane. Lanham, MA & London: Rowman & Littlefield. (selected chapters)
- Hutchison, Margaret & Emily Robertson (2015), Introduction: Art, War, and Truth – Images of Conflict, Journal of War & Culture Studies, 8(2): 103-108. DOI: 10.1179/1752627215Z.00000000065
- Kelly, Debra (2014), Introduction: Ambiguities and Ambivalences in the Representation of War and the Work of War and Culture Studies. Journal of War & Culture Studies 7(2): 97–99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/1752627214Z.00000000037
- Martínez, Victoria Van Orden (2023). Witnessing the Suffering of Others in Watercolor and Pencil: Jadwiga Simon-Pietkiewicz’s Holocaust Art Exhibited in Sweden, 1945–46, Holocaust and Genocide Studies 37(2): 273–293. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.1093/hgs/dcad020](
- Matila, Tuuli and Timo Yimaunu (2023), Empathy for the ‘Other’: Neglected Finnish Ethnographic War Photography from Occupied Soviet Territory, Journal of War & Culture Studies, 16(3): 293-311. DOI: [https://doi.org/10.1080/17526272.2021.2009656](
- Rose, Gillian (2001 or any later edition), Visual Methodologies. Los Angeles: SAGE. (selected chapters)
- Sontag, Susan (2008 or any edition/translation), On Photography. London: Penguin Books.
- Sontag, Susan (2004 or any edition/translation) Regarding the Pain of Others, London: Penguin Books.
- Articles (up to 300 pages) will be added to this list.
- Films, series, and visual material accessible online is part of the course literature.
Module 2
- Berger, John, (1972) Ways of Seeing, London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin books
- Bourke, Joanna, (2017) War and Art, London: Reaktion Books (selected parts)
- Culbert, David & Chambers, John W. (1996) World War II, Film and History, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Donald, Ralph and Karen MacDonald (2014), Women in War Films: From Helpless Heroine to G.I. Jane. Lanham, MA & London: Rowman & Littlefield. (selected chapters)
- LaRocca, David (ed.), (2014) The Philosophy of War Films, Lexington, Univ. of Kentucky Press
- Ritzenhoff, Karen A., (2014), Heroism and Gender in War Films, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US - E-BOOK available in MAU library
- Rose, Gillian (2001 or any later edition). Visual Methodologies. Los Angeles: SAGE. (selected chapters)
- Sontag, Susan (2008 or any edition/translation). On Photography. London: Penguin Books.
- Sontag, Susan (2004 or any edition/translation) Regarding the Pain of Others. London: Penguin Books.
- Articles (up to 300 pages) will be added to this list.
- Films, series, and visual material accessible online is part of the course literature.
War in the Visual Arts: Representations of War in Photography and Film
About the course
Course content
The aim of the course is for the students to acquire a basic understanding of how war is represented in the visual arts (photography and film) and how this contributes to the viewers’ understanding of war and individuals’ experiences of conflict. In addition, the students will gain insights into how meanings of war are created, sustained, and challenged. Furthermore, by exploring historical and contemporary wars through visual images and visual narratives, the students will obtain an understanding of how visual interpretations are conditioned.
The course consists of two modules:
Civilians in War Photography and Film (7.5 hp)
This module introduces the potentials and predicaments of visual images to communicate the civilians’ experiences of war. The module explores the interaction between realism and subjectivity as it manifests itself in the relationship between the producer, the image/visual narrative, and the viewer. Furthermore, the module explores how the representations of civilians in war photography and film can contribute to the understanding of war.
Representations of War in Photography and Film (7.5 hp)
This module introduces the role of visual images and visual narratives in the portrayal of war (historical and contemporary). The module explores the ways in which visual images and visual narratives are used to justify, remember, condemn, or sustain war by the power of visual images to communicate immediacy and a perceived truth of the visual image. Furthermore, the module investigates how these representations contribute to the comprehension of different types of war such as for example total wars, limited wars, internal conflicts, and genocide.
Entry requirements and selection
Entry requirements
General entry requirements + English 6.
Selection
40% Upper Secondary Grades - 40% Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT) - 20% University Credits
Course literature
Course evaluation
Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).
