Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of Photographs

On 15 June 2010, the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville Inquiry, published its report about the events of 30 January 1972. Thirty-eight years had passed since the first public inquiry led by Lord Widgery had published its report, which many at the time had dubbed the “Widgery Whitewash...

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Main Author: Charlotte Barcat
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Rennes 2014-06-01
Series:Revue LISA
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/6042
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author Charlotte Barcat
author_facet Charlotte Barcat
author_sort Charlotte Barcat
collection DOAJ
description On 15 June 2010, the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville Inquiry, published its report about the events of 30 January 1972. Thirty-eight years had passed since the first public inquiry led by Lord Widgery had published its report, which many at the time had dubbed the “Widgery Whitewash.” This article proposes to examine the role of photographs in the re-writing of the official version of Bloody Sunday, both in the deconstruction of the Widgery report and in the reconstruction of the new official version by Lord Saville. Indeed, while the version of events set out in the Widgery report remained the official one, photographs could be a powerful means of subversion: their emotional power could be very efficient to shock the public into awareness. They were thus used in several of the books that helped make the case for the new inquiry. After the setting up of the Saville Inquiry, they also proved very helpful by helping to reconstruct the sequence of events minute by minute. Arguably, the Saville Inquiry, by re-integrating them into the official version, also gave official recognition to these “fragments of truth” that had been mostly disregarded by Widgery.
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spelling doaj-art-ed1376401b094b7f8ff821ce5f57f8812025-01-06T09:02:45ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532014-06-0112310.4000/lisa.6042Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of PhotographsCharlotte BarcatOn 15 June 2010, the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville Inquiry, published its report about the events of 30 January 1972. Thirty-eight years had passed since the first public inquiry led by Lord Widgery had published its report, which many at the time had dubbed the “Widgery Whitewash.” This article proposes to examine the role of photographs in the re-writing of the official version of Bloody Sunday, both in the deconstruction of the Widgery report and in the reconstruction of the new official version by Lord Saville. Indeed, while the version of events set out in the Widgery report remained the official one, photographs could be a powerful means of subversion: their emotional power could be very efficient to shock the public into awareness. They were thus used in several of the books that helped make the case for the new inquiry. After the setting up of the Saville Inquiry, they also proved very helpful by helping to reconstruct the sequence of events minute by minute. Arguably, the Saville Inquiry, by re-integrating them into the official version, also gave official recognition to these “fragments of truth” that had been mostly disregarded by Widgery.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/6042truthsubjectivitypublic inquiriesnarrativedeconstruction/reconstruction
spellingShingle Charlotte Barcat
Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of Photographs
Revue LISA
truth
subjectivity
public inquiries
narrative
deconstruction/reconstruction
title Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of Photographs
title_full Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of Photographs
title_fullStr Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of Photographs
title_full_unstemmed Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of Photographs
title_short Re-writing the Official Narrative of Bloody Sunday: The Role of Photographs
title_sort re writing the official narrative of bloody sunday the role of photographs
topic truth
subjectivity
public inquiries
narrative
deconstruction/reconstruction
url https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/6042
work_keys_str_mv AT charlottebarcat rewritingtheofficialnarrativeofbloodysundaytheroleofphotographs