How to read Ernst Friedrich’s War against War nowadays? Aesthetics and politics as frames of justice

Abstract

In this paper I interpret Ernst Friedrich’s album War against War, which was published in 1924 and presents photographs of First World War damages. I recall Jacques Rancière’s “distribution of the sensible”, Judith Butler’s “framing” and José Medina’s “hermeneutical death” theories. The aim of the paper is to propose an interpretation of Friedrich’s project in reference to contemporary theories of social philosophy. The interpretation makes it possible to show a political dimension to War against War and its contemporary meaning. In my interpretation, War against War is presented on the one hand as a tool to show the logic of nationalistic discourse, on the other as a way of doing justice to war veterans. In the conclusion I pose an open question about the contemporary reader’s responsibility towards the victims shown in the photographs.