“I Am Burning, I Am Burning”

Abstract

This article draws on studies that explore forms of contemporary journalism which focus on the role played by the expression of emotions and feelings. We present results from a qualitative study which examined how British tabloid newspapers covered acid attacks on women between 2010 and 2016. Drawing on the notion of affect, we explore the extent to which journalists try to turn painful embodied states into rational discourse. The data analysed suggest that such experiences cannot be completely captured by language. The journalists make use of particular narrative strategies focusing on the incident of the attack by highlighting how pain was experienced by the individual. This often results in the women being singled out and isolated. While there is some discussion of the contexts in which the violence occurred, the wider socio-cultural background is absent from the articles. We conclude that the focus on intense pain in the articles may enable a particular affective relationality to emerge that is felt by victims, journalists and audiences alike.

KEYWORDS:

• acid attacks
• affect
• burns
• pain
• tabloid journalism
• violence

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. These included: Sunday Telegraph Magazine “Stella”, Telegraph Magazine, The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, Daily Star, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, The Mail on Sunday, The Observer, The Sun, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times and The Times.

Additional information

Funding

This article draws on research funded by the University of Westminster Strategic Reseach Fund/Quintin Hogg Trust [grant number HM114400].

Notes on contributors

Jacob Johanssen

ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8682-1648