Week 02: Looking

Nick Lacey explains the importance of context and meaning in his book ‘Image and Representation’ (2009). Although it is easy to assume that when one views a text, they automatically understand its meaning, it is not quite so simple. Interpretation of text is a personal thing with each individual taking away their own meaning. These meanings stem from the way we have learned to decode the world around us as we have been taught by those in our culture. For example, many Buddhists in the Eastern world believe that the swastika symbol symbolises goodwill as it is an ancient design (Smith 1999), although in the West we are more likely to have negative connotations arising from the symbol, relating it to racism or Hitler. More recently, the movie Twilight (2008) brought the concept of vampires being mysterious, seductive or even cool into the mainstream. However, I’m not sure that the audience that viewed the classic vampire movie Nosferatu (1922) would come to terms so easily with the vampire being benign and attractive.

References

·         Lacey, N 2009, Image and Representation: Key Concepts in Media Studies, 2^nd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, London, UK.

·         Smith, C. S. 1999, ‘In China’s Religious Crackdown, An Ancient Symbol Gets the Boot’, Wall Street Journal – Eastern edn, Vol. 234, Issue 48, p.B1.

·         Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens 1922, motion picture, Enrico Dieckmann Albin Grau, Berlin, Germany.

·         Twilight 2008, motion picture, Catherine Hardwicke, Washington, USA.