carnography

English

Etymology

From Latin carnis (“meat”) and Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ, “writing”), by analogy to pornography. Although it is often taken to be a blend carnage and pornography, this is not the case.

Noun

carnography (uncountable)

1. Any writing, films, images, or other material that contains gratuitous amounts of bloodshed or violence.
   • 1995, Linda Badley, Film, horror, and the body fantastic, page 6:

     In 1986, Philip Brophy noted in Screen magazine that the horror film defied critics' attempts to deal with it as other than plotless carnography, gore, and effects for an increasingly brutalized mass audience.

Synonyms

• violence porn

References

• "Carnography" 1972 review of First Blood by Time's John Skow which describes the book as "carnography" ie. "meat writing".
• A linguist traces "carnography" as far back as 1984
• Eric Raymond defining "carnography" in a book review
• from Wordspy