Paperback : £33.72
Now that it has become so commonplace, we rarely blink an eye at camera footage framed by the crosshairs of a sniper's gun or from the perspective of a descending smart bomb. But how did this weaponized gaze become the norm for depicting war, and how has it influenced public perceptions?
Through the Crosshairs traces the genealogy of this weapon's-eye view across a wide range of genres, including news reports, military public relations images, action movies, video games, and social media posts. As he tracks how gun-camera footage has spilled from the battlefield onto the screens of everyday civilian life, Roger Stahl exposes how this raw video is carefully curated and edited to promote identification with military weaponry, rather than with the targeted victims. He reveals how the weaponized gaze is not only a powerful propagandistic frame, but also a prime site of struggle over the representation of state violence.
Now that it has become so commonplace, we rarely blink an eye at camera footage framed by the crosshairs of a sniper's gun or from the perspective of a descending smart bomb. But how did this weaponized gaze become the norm for depicting war, and how has it influenced public perceptions?
Through the Crosshairs traces the genealogy of this weapon's-eye view across a wide range of genres, including news reports, military public relations images, action movies, video games, and social media posts. As he tracks how gun-camera footage has spilled from the battlefield onto the screens of everyday civilian life, Roger Stahl exposes how this raw video is carefully curated and edited to promote identification with military weaponry, rather than with the targeted victims. He reveals how the weaponized gaze is not only a powerful propagandistic frame, but also a prime site of struggle over the representation of state violence.
1 A Strike of
the Eye
2 Smart Bomb
Vision
3 Satellite
Vision
4 Drone
Vision
5 Sniper
Vision
6 Resistant
Vision
7 Afterword:
Bodies Inhabited and Disavowed
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ROGER STAHL is an associate professor of communication studies at
the University of Georgia in Athens. He is the author of
Militainment, Inc. and has produced several documentary films on
the military-entertainment complex, including Militainment, Inc.
and Returning Fire.
"Stahl displays true dexterity with theory, offering
observations both big and small that wonderfully merge abstract
concepts with concrete examples of popular culture. His analyses
are exceptionally adept, creative, clever, and enlightening."— Matt
Sienkiewicz, author of The Other Air Force: U.S. Efforts to Reshape
Middle Eastern Media Since 9/11
"Chronicle of Higher Education weekly book list," by Nina C. Ayoub—
Chronicle of Higher Education
Spotlight on Through the Crosshairs on The War and Media— The War
and Media Network
"Roger Stahl’s wild new book shows how military technology wages
war on us all—even those of us lucky enough to be on the 'right
side' of the border, the scope, or the screen. Engaging, fun,
and filled with sharp insights into the militarization of popular
culture, Through the Crosshairs is a blast." — Joshua
Reeves, Oregon State University, author of Citizen Spies: The Long
Rise of America's Surveillance Society
"Immersing readers in the perilous visualities of smart bombs,
snipers, and drones, Through the Crosshairs delivers a
riveting analysis of the weaponized gaze and powerfully explicates
the political stakes of screen culture's militarization.
Packed with insights about the current conjuncture, the book
positions Stahl as a leading critic of war and media." — Lisa
Parks, Comparative Media Studies, MIT, author of Rethinking Media
Coverage: Vertical Mediation and the War
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