Making the past present: Bisbee ‘17 and mediated haunting

ABSTRACT

In 1917, over 1,000 miners were deported from the mining town of Bisbee, AZ by a mob of deputized vigilantes. One-hundred years later, Bisbee ‘17 revisits the community as its residents engage the town’s shameful past through a re-creation of the mass deportation. The documentary film demonstrates that the shameful past is never silent, only quieted. Bisbee ‘17’s cinematography, sound design, score, and set pieces suggest that contemporary Bisbee is haunted by figures from 1917 who lurk within the open spaces of Bisbee. Those figures’ voices and presence, the film argues, can be felt throughout the community, and they move ever closer to the present as the town’s contemporary residents approach the re-enactment of the deportation. Ultimately, Bisbee ‘17 teaches viewers lessons about how to listen for the past, while encouraging reluctant individuals to do the same.

KEYWORDS:

• Hauntology
• phantasia
• presence
• historical affect
• public memory and documentary

Acknowledgement

The author is Charles E. Zumkehr Professor of Speech Communication in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University. He wishes to thank Cassidy Book and Christian Thanasoulis for their research assistance on this project.

Notes

1 I borrow the idea of rhetorical quieting from Smilges (2019), although I use it in a different context here.

2 Importantly, I acknowledge Bone et al.’s (2008) reminder that invitational rhetoric is not, and should not be, the only approach toward difficult conversations—especially those that involve shame about the collective past.