Dr. Steven Caton, a professor of anthropology at Harvard University, visited Hopkins on Tuesday to give a reading of a new essay titled "The Passion of Abu Ghraib," in which he argued that the public has shown increasing fascination with graphic portrayals of evil.
The event took place in Macaulay Hall, and featured members of the Hopkins anthropology department as well as Caton.
Caton argued that three recent historical events -- last year's release of Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ, the public release of photographs depicting torture from the Abu Ghraib prison, and the string of televised beheadings by insurgents in the Middle East -- are all connected anthropologically in various, previously unnoticed ways.
According to Caton, the three events were essentially related to the "struggle of human sovereignty," and to make his point he cited a number of relevant works, both academic and literary.
He began by describing J.M. Coetzee's 2003 novel Elizabeth Costello, in which a woman is raped and chooses to remain silent about it, even to her friends and family. The character herself is a novelist, and at a conference describes the propagation of evil in literature.
In the novel, the protagonist describes a book by author Paul West, titled The Very Rich Hours of Count von Stauffenberg, as an example of evil that is so vividly depicted it can lead to more evil in the world. The protagonist claims that the actions of Nazi executioners are so graphically portrayed and examined, the work can be classified as obscene.
In his talk, Caton lent credence to the idea that an overly-vivid portrayal of evil can produce more evil. He also made many references to Georgio Agamben's 1995 book Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Naked Life.
Caton then described the relation of these works to Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, in which Christ is shown in many scenes being brutally beaten.
"Gibson's Christ is the Homo Sacer," Caton argued, referring to a creature in Agamben's book. "[Christ] can be killed but not sacrificed."
Caton supported his argument by referencing the character of Pontius Pilate, who faced a difficult decision, but in the end allowed the crucifixion to take place to ensure Roman sovereignty.
Caton argued that the film showed the paradoxes of sovereignty, reinforced by Pilate allowing the execution to take place and the Roman guards brutally beating Christ as a symbol of their power over him.
He then moved on to the controversial pictures taken at Abu Ghraib prison. Originally, the public called the pictures pornographic and sadomasochistic. Caton expressed a different view.
"I argue that the images from Abu Ghraib prison, while no doubt sadomasochistic, would be better understood in terms of struggles over sovereignty," he said.
Caton argued that the disturbing photos had more to do with the American soldiers' expression of power and sovereignty over the Iraqi prisoners. "What they are saying is: "We are the powerful, and you are the slave,'" he said.
Finally, Caton described the recent string of televised beheadings of Americans and foreigners by militant Iraqi groups. He described how the executions were often ritualistic, with a certain pattern seen in nearly every execution.
He claimed that the executions were not a masochistic sacrifice, but a strong show of power over the captives.
After Caton finished reading his essay, participants primarily from the anthropology department were given a chance to analyze Caton's work.
A panelist asked Caton how evil was defined in the essay, and Caton agreed that in his work, as in many works, evil is ambiguous. He referenced the Terri Schiavo case as an example in which ambiguity is prevalent.
He was then asked about the theory of exceptionality, which he had mentioned in his essay, and about how exceptionality and sovereignty are connected.
"Exceptions are being claimed by various agencies of the state that create a sense in which what one says now may be used against you three or four months later," he replied.
Finally, Caton was asked to discuss how, in many of the works mentioned, the brutal acts are contrasted with beautiful weather, such as blue skies in The Passion of the Christ, in Paul West's book and in the public Iraqi executions.
Caton argued that the clear, blue skies might symbolize an indifference of nature to the sometimes-brutal practices done to preserve human sovereignty.
