Audiovisual Archives: Digital Text and Discourse Analysis

Chapter 8

Definition of the Domain of Knowledge and Configuration of the Topical Structure

 

8.1 Introduction

Any analytical task usually begins with the identification and circumscription of the type of knowledge object an audiovisual text deals with. In other words, one must first define the appropriate topical structure* (configuration) to speak about a given subject in an audiovisual text being analyzed.

The topical structure itself, as we have already seen, takes account of two types of objects of analysis* — referential objects and objects of referential location. In terms of the referential objects specifically, the topical structure may, in the simplest of cases, manifest itself as a single conceptual term which the analyst has to confirm before describing it (see below, section 8.2). However, the topical structure may, of course, manifest as a configuration, positioning various conceptual terms in relation to one another. It is therefore up to the analyst to define the precise structure he needs in order to analyze a specific subject developed in “his” audiovisual text or corpus, by selecting the appropriate conceptual terms.

By defining the appropriate topical structure for his analysis, the analyst configures (or rather, reconfigures) the topical structure which is suggested in an interactive descriptive form. In section 8.2, we shall discuss the simplest task of configuration/reconfiguration, which consists of selecting the conceptual term which, on its own, represents ...