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Accepted Paper:

Forensic fictions: first thoughts on media representations of forensic science  
Marcus Banks (University of Oxford)

Paper short abstract:

Drawing upon initial findings from fieldwork in forensic science laboratories in the UK and South India, this paper examines the so-called "CSI effect" (by which trial juries are thought to be swayed by popular television representations of forensic science) as a mode by which routine science practice becomes aesthetically 'fit for purpose'.

Paper long abstract:

Over the past decade, the representation of forensic science practice has been mediated globally on television through shows such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and locally through shows such as "Silent Witness" in the UK. Such shows romantically aestheticize forensic science practice to a surprisingly high degree, given the often gory nature of the subject matter (though such romantic aestheticization of horror has a long history dating back at least to Murnau's "Nosferatu" (1922) and is also seen in the current vogue for "teen vampire" fiction), and the frankly dull routine of forensic laboratory practice.

This paper draws upon initial findings from fieldwork in forensic science laboratories in the UK and in South India to argue that the "CSI effect" (a presumptive "media effect", proposed by lawyers, whereby trial juries are influenced more by the media representation of forensic science than the actual evidence presented in court) derives from both naive assumptions about the "effects" of the media and a misunderstanding of actual forensic science practice. The paper concludes with some thoughts about how the dead themselves - often the subjects of these media representations - might want to be represented.

Panel P37
The aesthetics and fictions of science
  Session 1