Summary Of Lawrence Weschler's Vermeer In Bosnia

Justice and Individualism

In “Vermeer in Bosnia,” Lawrence Weschler challenges us to consider the prosecution of war criminals in unusual ways. He describes his observation of the preliminary hearings of The Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal and, at the same time, discusses many of Vermeer’s paintings. The concept of intersubjectivity is emphasized throughout the essay. The term “intersubjectivity” generally means a condition somewhere between subjectivity and objectivity, one in which a phenomenon is personally experienced yet by more than one subject. However, Weschler interprets this term as an experience closely linked to the concept of individuality, autonomy, or self-sufficiency. To be more specific, the author claims that how Vermeer views his subjects and depicts them in his paintings and how the “ordinary people,” including the art critics, view the same Vermeer’s paintings are different because of individuality. In other words, each person perceives and interprets Vermeer’s paintings, such as View of Delft, The
The reason is, as Weschler states, “Such interethnic violence usually gets stoked by specific individuals’ intent on immediate political or material advantage, who then calls forth the legacies of earlier and previously unaddressed grievances. (Weschler 784)” The author emphasizes that violence is often fueled by few individuals’ greed of political power and material gains. Hence, when we judge the immoral crimes of war criminals, it would be too rash for us to simplify or generalize that each individual of the criminal group bears the guilt and the responsibility of the war crimes. However, we cannot ignore the fact that the actions of individuals are often influenced by the pressure and the expectations of