Representation & culture

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Early understanding

  • 5th-4th centuries BC
  • A period of transition between oral communication and written composition
    • Resistance toward letters, alphabet, written alphabet
    • Earlier, Ancient Greeks relied on oral communication for cultural forms, whether history, education or entertainment
    • Shifting attitudes and possibilities about writing: Homer > Socrates > Plato
  • Regardless of form -- oral or written -- the representation does not exactly mimic the original object or concept
  • Plato found problems with representation
    • The Sophists: Wandering educators specializing in rhetoric, oratory and persuasion
      • Criticism: the Sophist is not concerned with truth or justice, only power
      • Achieved through ambiguous language
      • Plato is largely responsible for current understanding of "Sophist"
    • Why?
      • Representation requires the mind's understanding of places and images
      • In speeches and writings, these understandings orally represented and may be manipulated
    • Plato's Allegory of the Cave
      • One understanding of how representation can mislead
      • Summary: prisoners, cave setting, shadows, release, understanding

Simple representation

  • Direct, commonplace understanding that signs stand for things around us
  • One-to-one correspondence between word and referent
    • Words are simply names for thing or objects
  • But, problem with concept of "words are only names for things"
    • While most lexical words are nouns (referring to things), most are abstractions, not only physical objects
    • Only proper nouns have specific referents and only some refer to a unique entity (i.e. not share name)
    • "Function words" or grammatical words (eg. "only", "under") do not refer to objects
  • Nevertheless, we need general reference beyond particular instance:
    • While each tree may be unique, a general term is required
    • Classes of things (eg. "buildings") or concepts (eg. "construction")
  • But, holes still left in representation in language
    • How to refer (and understand reference) to individual instances within a class
    • Thursday: Semiotics

Media representation

  • Four basic considerations for media messages and products:
    1. The message or product
    2. The audience or consumer
    3. The technology used for communication
    4. The final look of the product
  • Representation in media can take many forms
    • Generally speaking, is the message represented to the audience using technology within a larger production
    • Example: Simple visual metaphor in film
      • Train entering a tunnel
    • Example: Simple audio form in film
      • The voice-over ("Once upon a time")
    • Example: Parody of politicians
      • Sarah Palin examples
        • Levels of representation: News program representation mimicked by entertainment program
        • Message: Palin understanding of policy
        • Audience/Tech: Web/television viewers
      • Rod Blagojevich example
        • Message: criticism of Blagojevich, talk shows
        • Tech/audience: newspaper/Web readers
    • Example: parody of larger society
      • Simpsons -- season four, episode 21
      • Individuals: Housewife, husband, hippie, American media consumer, Japanese, politicians, tycoon, mobs, Indian, police, lawyers, alcoholics
      • Concepts: media programs (infomercials, news, Married with Children)
  • Media codes -- Textual codes through multiple formats
    • Require mental representation (thinking in flashbacks to understand codes)
      • Above examples are maintained mentally through moving pictures
    • Consider a sports brand that is initially worn on the basketball court by a revered player
    • On television, that can encourage viewers to buy "sporty" products
      • Air Jordan shoe -- worn on court, symbol associated with Jordan
      • "Be like Mike" commercial
    • The "sporty" look then can become a fashion
    • Consider examples beyond sport
  • Representation in media encounters great criticism
    • Who is represented and how are they represented
      • Accuracy -- sometimes, due to efficiency in production -- representation reinforces stereotypes of groups
      • Simpsons: Indians, Japanese, Americans
      • Example: US Weekly
      • Google image results (from the first page of results): "Black man" "White man" "White woman"
    • From the production end
      • Who -- or, in Google's case, what -- is producing the content?
      • And, do they have sufficient knowledge to accurately represent others?

Contact

Prof. Matt Blake
Tehama Hall 339
530-898-3608
mdblake (at) csuchico.edu

Design © 2006 Matthew Blake