Speaker: Marine Beccarelli, École d'histoire de la Sorbonne (Sorbonne School of History), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University)- Personal Website, Academia.edu, ORCID

Abstract: »This contribution, which is part of axis #2 of the conference, proposes to study the media representation of rape on French radio from a historical perspective, from the late 1960s to the end of the 1990s, through the sound archives kept at the INA (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, institution in charge of collecting, preserving and promoting French audiovisual archives). Using descriptors from the INA's databases, the aim is to observe the types of programmes in which the issue of rape has been addressed over time (news programmes, magazines, reports and documentaries, programmes aimed at a female audience, open lines, etc.) from a quantitative point of view, but also to analyse the media treatment and the representations conveyed of this sexual violence, through a qualitative approach, which will take into account the feminist movement of the second wave, the evolutions of the definition of rape and the legislative changes during the period - modification of the definition of rape in 1980, entry into the law of marital rape in 1992.
The type of people who used to talk about this subject on the air will be analysed (journalists, victims, perpetrators or witnesses of rape, jurists, experts, politicians, activists, etc.), as well as the type of discourse produced around this sexual violence, particularly the rhetorical devices used. As radio is a medium without images, the aim is to see whether this absence of visual elements influenced the representations of rape conveyed on the air. For example, was it easier for victims to speak out because of the anonymity of radio?
The study will begin at the time of sexual liberation, which began in the late 1960s, and will end in the early 2000s, at a time when the mention of rape is increasingly present on the radio according to the archives kept, particularly in the news.
Although this analysis based on the INA descriptors will only reflect a portion of the programmes that actually dealt with rape during the period, since the archive records are not necessarily complete and not all the programmes have been preserved, it will nevertheless constitute an initial approach to this question, over over some thirty years, and will pave the way for a more detailed analysis of these representations, or even extend them to include radio representations of other forms of gender-based and sexual violence.« (Source: Conference Website)

Publication: Beccarelli, Marine. »Occulter la réalité du viol: Une histoire de la radio et de la télévision publiques françaises (1970-1990).« Cahiers du Genre No. 78 (2025): 71-97. - Bibliographic Entry: Info

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of France / French Fifth Republic | Broadcasting: Broadcasting in France / Radio in France | Sex and the law: Rape / Rape in France