Abstract
This essay concerns the role of political affect in cinema. As a case study, I analyze the 2006 film V for Vendetta as cinematic rhetoric. Adopting a multi modal approach that focuses on the interplay of discourse, figure, and ground, I contend that the film mobilizes viewers at a visceral level to reject a politics of apathy in favor of a politics of democratic struggle. Based on the analysis, I draw conclusions related to the evaluation of cinematic rhetoric, the political import of mass art, and the character and role of affect in politics. This manuscript is included in a special issue titled, Space, Matter, Mediation, and the Prospects of Democracy, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2010. © 2010 National Communication Association.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 39-54 |
| Journal | Critical Studies in Media Communication |
| State | Published - 2010 |