The Media Studies Book

Chapter 6

 

Representation

Gillian Swanson

 

At its most basic, the term ‘representation’ refers to the way images and language actively construct meanings according to sets of conventions shared by and familiar to makers and audiences.

Conventions form part of our cultural knowledge – we know ‘what to do’ with the media products we come across even if we don’t do it – and the conventions used are as familiar to the participants of a particular culture as the meanings they make. Assumptions, ‘common knowledge’, common sense, ‘general’ knowledge, widespread beliefs and popular attitudes are all part of the context of meanings within which representations are produced and circulate. They also form the basis of our own cultural knowledge, varied ...