The Sight, Sound, and Global Traffic of Blackness inBlood Diamond

Abstract

Abstract:This article explores the representation of Africa in director Edward Zwick's 2006 filmBlood Diamond, examining in particular the ways in which the film's liberal-humanitarian orientation works to demonize black African communities, nationalisms, and governments while constituting a white and largely American subject as the center of ethical value. The article also examines the film's account of diamond consumption as a global phenomenon, and considers the ways in which sound and vision operate to devalue black diasporic as well as black continental African subjects.