Second-order observation of art in two films about Colombian violence: Carne de tu carne and Memoria

Abstract

Using dialogism and second-order observation, I interrogate how art is mobilized through the lenses of specific film codes and how this encounter frames the interpretation of past violence in two films: Carne de tu carne (Mayolo 1983) and Memoria (Weerasethakul 2020). At the same time, I examine how this encounter disrupts the systemic identity of the two medias, exposed to a complex exchange of meanings. I conclude that both films interrogate the communication of violence through an appropriation of art references. But, while Carne de tu carne develops a political horror genre marked by tremendismo, Memoria explores slow cinema and an imperceptible indexicality language relied to the context of a Global South memorial discourse.