Pamięć, performans i afekty – temat ludobójstwa w filmach Joshui Oppenheimera
Memory, Performance and Affects – Genocide in the Films by Joshua Oppenheimer

Summary/Abstract: The starting point for the reflection on Joshua Oppenheimer’s films is the concept of performance by Rebecca Schneider – especially her remarks on historical reconstructions – and the theory of affects by Jill Bennett (because the actual effect of performative practices is being “affectively moved”). In the author’s reading of "The Act of Killing" (2012) and "The Look of Silence" (2014), these historical performances registered by the director, with their ability to affect emotions, i.e. to provoke specific affective reactions (disgust, repulsion, sympathy, fascination), offer a new way in which genocide can be talked about. Starting from the analysis of Oppenheimer’s films, the author wonders how the memory of historical events is constructed and reconstructed, to what extent the past exerts influence on the present, and, finally, whether it is possible to observe yourself “from the outside” to face your own affections.

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