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Visual Performativity of Violence: Power and Retaliatory Humiliation in Islamic State (is) Beheading Videos Between 2014 and 2017

The significance of visual propaganda in war has never been as debated as since the Islamic State (IS) started gaining global attention for its sophisticated media campaigns in 2014. Although IS propaganda contains several narratives, the videos of beheadings have for years been at the centre of attention. This graphic violence involves deliberate choices in terms of image composition, lighting, camera-angles, and overall editing techniques deployed to reach maximum effects its targeted audiences. These videos are not only evidence of tactical choices in hybrid warfare, but also mediated communicative artefacts. This chapter aims to dissect this mediation of performative violence: the visualization of beheadings as multi-layered media artefacts, produced with the dual objective to incite fear among adversaries and strengthen the in-group identity of the organization. How videos of IS beheadings are designed is crucial to understand the role of visual propaganda in IS contemporary warfare. The chapter is based on qualitative visual analysis of beheading videos produced by IS official media wings between 2014 and 2017 with particular focus on image composition and sequencing, contextualized through a theoretical discussion about how power and retaliatory humiliation are constructed through the visual performativity of violence.