Journals / sinecine: Sinema Araştırmaları Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 17 Sayı: 1

Empathy Suspended: Immanent Alienation in Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest

Empati Askıda: Jonathan Glazer’ın The Zone of Interest’inde İçkin Yabancılaşma

Pages
69–93
Publication Date
2026-06-03
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The study demonstrates how the film, by pressing against the limits of representation, shifts the responsibility for moral judgment from the screen to the spectator’s own conscience.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This article analyzes Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (2023) as an original spectatorship experience that moves beyond the traditional dichotomy of empathy and alienation in film theory.
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Key Findings & Data:The first stage, a phenomenological deconstruction, examines how the film constructs the experience of alienation through two main aesthetic strategies: the “machinic gaze,” which generates a surveillant visual regime; and “acousmatic hell,” which renders the horror of the film’s setting invisible yet continuously audible.
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Conclusion & Impact:The study demonstrates how the film, by pressing against the limits of representation, shifts the responsibility for moral judgment from the screen to the spectator’s own conscience.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:2023 Verileri
⚙️Variables:içkin yabancılaşma · yabancılaşma · holocaust

Abstract

This article analyzes Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (2023) as an original spectatorship experience that moves beyond the traditional dichotomy of empathy and alienation in film theory. It argues that, unlike Brecht’s didactic alienation, Glazer’s film produces what is referred to here as “immanent alienation,” an effect which emerges from the narrative’s own aesthetic texture. The article employs qualitative textual analysis within a two-stage theoretical framework. The first stage, a phenomenological deconstruction, examines how the film constructs the experience of alienation through two main aesthetic strategies: the “machinic gaze,” which generates a surveillant visual regime; and “acousmatic hell,” which renders the horror of the film’s setting invisible yet continuously audible. The second stage, a hermeneutic discussion, interprets the ethical and philosophical implications of this experience through the frameworks of Jean-Luc Nancy, Susan Sontag, Jean-François Lyotard, and Hannah Arendt. The study demonstrates how the film, by pressing against the limits of representation, shifts the responsibility for moral judgment from the screen to the spectator’s own conscience.

Özet

Bu makale, Jonathan Glazer'ın The Zone of Interest (2023) filmini, sinema kuramındaki geleneksel empati ve yabancılaşma ikiliğinin ötesinde konumlanan özgün bir seyir deneyimi olarak analiz etmektedir. Çalışma, filmin, Brecht'in didaktik "yabancılaşması"ndan farklı olarak, anlatının kendi estetik dokusundan doğan ve bu metinde "içkin yabancılaşma" (immanent alienation) olarak adlandırılan bir etki yarattığını öne sürmektedir. Bu argümanı analiz etmek için, nitel metin analizi yöntemi, iki aşamalı bir teorik çerçeve içerisinde benimsenmiştir. Analizin ilk ayağı olan fenomenolojik çözümleme, filmin bu deneyimi nasıl inşa ettiğini iki temel estetik strateji üzerinden ortaya koyar: Gözetlemeci bir estetik yaratan "makinik bakış" (machinic gaze) ve kampın dehşetini görünmez kılıp duyulur kılan "akusmatik cehennem" (acousmatic hell). Analizin ikinci ayağı olan yorumsamacı tartışma ise, bu deneyimin etik ve felsefi sonuçlarını Jean-Luc Nancy, Susan Sontag, Jean-François Lyotard ve Hannah Arendt gibi düşünürlerin kuramları çerçevesinde yorumlar. Analiz, filmin temsilin sınırlarını zorlayarak ahlaki yargı yükünü filmden alıp doğrudan seyircinin vicdanına nasıl devrettiğini ortaya koymaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Türkgeldi, S. K. (2026). Empathy Suspended: Immanent Alienation in Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest. sinecine: Sinema Araştırmaları Dergisi, Cilt: 17 Sayı: 1, 69–93. https://doi.org/10.32001/sinecine.1773447

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