In Terror. Wenn Bilder zu Waffen werden (2017; Terror: When Images Becomes Weapons [2020]), Prof. Dr. Charlotte Klonk examines what role images of terror have played from the nineteenth century to the present day. Using specific case studies and with an art historian’s trained eye, she maps out the visual strategies, places them in historical context, and addresses the pressing question of how to deal with images of terror in an ethical way. In his many novels and essays, the writer and poet Marcel Beyer asks how today’s writers can respond to the media coverage of war. His most recent publication, Die tonlosen Stimmen beim Anblick der Toten auf den Straßen von Butscha (The silent voices when seeing the dead on the streets of Bucha, 2023), focuses on the attack on Ukraine as a historical turning point – not just for politics and society but also for storytelling. What are the ethical questions involved in media reporting? How can we learn and practice to deal with images in an ethical way? How can storytelling help give a voice to images that are silent witnesses of events?

These questions as well as the importance and impact of images in our society will be discussed in a moderated conversation. The two guests, Prof. Dr. Charlotte Klonk and Marcel Beyer, will offer brief insights into their research and work, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Stephanie Rohde, a renowned science journalist with Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

The conversation will then be opened up to the audience. We warmly invite you to use this opportunity to actively participate in the discussion.