Violència: del ritual a la representació

The presence of violence has been a constant throughout history. Violence, in all its forms, has been and is a resource that is regularly used in the resolution of conflicts. The purpose of this article is to reflect on the different forms of the representation of violence, above all punitive violence carried out in the name of the state. We analyse here the violence which takes place within the area of ritual in traditional societies and we study the different forms of spectacularised representations of violence which occur, in particular by means ofthe mass media. We also analyse how these different forms of the presentation of violence affect our social perception of reality.