The Christian Aesthetics of Trauma: The European Pieta of Aylan Kurdi
Abstract
Within hours of the publication of the photographs of Aylan Kurdi, world leaders pledged to open their borders to refugees, and organizations helping displaced people saw a surge in donation. This article focuses on the iconic images of Aylan Kurdi, and specifically their Christian iconography based on the visual trope of the Pieta. The recontextualization of the Pieta and reappropriation of its meaning throughout the centuries and via interaction between the icon with its diverse audience allows us to explain the effect of the Aylan Kurdi photographs in the rhetoric of the European refugee crisis.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Visual Culture and Art Theory
Photography and Visual Culture
Memory
Trauma
and Commemoration
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Visual Communication Quarterly
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 90–105
- Publication date
- 2 January 2026
- Language
- EN