Representation, realism and the values it carries

Overview

Verisimilitude as a set of conventions, documentary's markers of truthfulness, and why a claim to realism carries ideological weight.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What do media representations convey through the choices made in their construction?

   Model answer

   They carry attitudes, value judgements and assumptions about how the world is and how it ought to be, communicated through what is selected, what is left out and how it is framed.

2. 2

   How can values, attitudes and beliefs become systematically reinforced through media?

   Model answer

   When similar representations appear consistently across multiple media texts and platforms, the values, attitudes and beliefs they contain become normalised and reinforced.

3. 3

   Do audiences passively accept the intended meanings of media representations?

   Model answer

   No, audiences respond to and interpret media representations actively, not passively accepting intended meanings.

4. 4

   What do claims about realism in media representations involve?

   Model answer

   Claims about realism involve techniques and conventions that create an impression of authenticity or truthfulness, rather than actual unmediated reality.

5. 5

   What is the key distinction between representation and reality?

   Model answer

   Representations are always constructed mediations rather than transparent windows onto the world; they are never neutral or unmediated reflections of reality.

6. 6

   What is verisimilitude?

   Model answer

   The quality of seeming true or plausible within the terms a product establishes, which depends on conforming to conventions of realism rather than on corresponding to actual events.

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