Gallows Erected in the Bedroom: A Critical Analysis of Violence in the Case of Capital Punishment

Abstract

This thesis is an interdisciplinary critique of violence, with particular focus on the case of capital punishment. Although the core elements of the thesis are inferred from a capital case—and the facts thereof—the model suggested in this study provides a theoretical framework to better understand the question of violence. Texts, images, and sounds have been employed as modes of expression in this study. The theoretical assertion is depicted in an animated piece (Gallows), which is further expounded in the subsequent text. The theoretical framework puts forth two concepts, namely hierarchy and lack of bond, as the constituent elements of violence. Hierarchy pertains to the structure of power which, as demonstrated in this study, correlates with the use of violence. The origins of hierarchy are sought in the earliest stages of mankind’s evolution, specifically in the copulatory posture of primal humans. This contention is further elaborated by invoking philosophic, psychoanalytic, and linguistic evidence, as well as the events of Gallows. The physical manifestation of hierarchy is then explained by suggesting a psychic attribute—an archetype to be more precise—which I have called governmentality. The second element of the argumentation, i.e. lack of bond, is also a psychic state, which is scrutinized through its physical manifestations. In order to expound on the notion of bond, both rational and aesthetic critiques are utilized, thereby making reference to not only academic literature, but also works of art. Finally, the theoretical framework is applied to investigate a recent instance of the death penalty in the 1980s in the Islamic Republic of Iran.