Marie-José Mondzain's 'L'Image peut-elle tuer?' Examines Visual Violence

In her book 'L'Image peut-elle tuer?', philosopher Marie-José Mondzain argues that visual violence stems not from image content but from its dispositif. Drawing on Byzantine iconoclastic debates of the 9th century, she distinguishes between 'incorporating visibilities' that paralyze thought and 'incarnated images' that open onto language. Mondzain identifies 9/11 as a turning point in the war of images, and uses Nazi cinema to illustrate her thesis. She contends that we suffer not from an excess of images but from their systematic killing by powers that weaponize visibility. The book, published in 2002, includes a quote from Jean-Luc Godard affirming that any pact with visibilities is collaboration with the enemy.