(Post-)Colonial Violence
Ripper Street and Moral Injury
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12943264 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Melissa Beattie (0000-0003-1466-8338, Film Independent, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 56-69 |
| Publication date | 2024-08-13 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scrutiny2 (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1812-5441 • E-ISSN: 1753-5409 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/18125441.2024.2316346 |
| OpenAlex | W4401544589 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
The period crime drama Ripper Street (BBC/multiple production partners, 2012–2016) engages in a variety of postcolonial sociocultural critiques. One of these areas of critique includes the moral injury/-ies suffered by Sergeant (later Inspector) Bennet Drake (played by Jerome Flynn), who served in Sudan and Egypt as part of the colonial military before becoming a police officer. Often called upon to engage in what would now be considered police brutality, Drake's increasingly ambivalent relationship to violence, those who command (or have commanded) him, and the expressions of shame and self-harm he exhibits make him a clear victim of moral injury. This article will explore how Drake is represented, and also how he is representative of returning soldiers, contextualised in both colonial (contemporary to the period in which the series is set) and postcolonial (contemporary to the period in which it was filmed) critique.Keywords: postcolonial crime fictionmoral injuryBritish televisionBritish period dramaRipper Street
Archaeology · Colonialism · Criminology · Moral injury · Sociology · History · Homelessness and Social Issues · Psychology · Race, History, and American Society · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
| Highly cited | No |
|---|